Ownership Structure and Dividend Policy of Quoted Conglomerates in Nigeria

ABSTRACT
The study investigated the effect of tax leakages on economic development in Nigeria for the duration of 2004-2023. This was done in accordance with revenues leakages measures, such as the Tax Evasion and Avoidance of Oil Revenue (TEAOR), Tax Evasion and Avoidance of Tax Revenue (TEATR) and Tax Evasion and Avoidance of Total Revenue (TEATTR) and their respective effect on economic development proxied with Human Development Index (HDI) in Nigeria. The secondary used in this study, were sourced from Budgit Budget Analysis Report, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), World Bank Statistical Bulletin and National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) for the period 2004-2023. In order to obtain an accurate regression result, the data set was defined using descriptive statistics, and the unit root test was used to determine if the data were stationary. The correlation analysis will be used to determine the independent variables' co-movement in connection to the dependent variable, while the Multiple Regression analysis was used to assess the research hypotheses raised using E-VIEW version 9.0. The findings found that Tax Evasion and Avoidance of Oil Revenue (TEAOR) has negative insignificant effect on Human Development Index (HDI) while Tax Evasion and Avoidance of Tax Revenue (TEATR) and Tax Evasion and Avoidance of Total Revenue (TEATTR) has negative significant effect on Human Development Index (HDI) in Nigeria. As a result, the study revealed that there is a mixed link between revenues leakages and economic development in Nigeria. As a result, the paper recommends that in order to reverse the negative effects of tax leakages on economic development, government should provide employment opportunities to all by the judicious use of tax proceeds, which will promote high rate of tax compliance, thereby reducing to a tolerable limit, the twin problems of tax evasion and avoidance.