Corporate Governance and the Risk of Corporate Failure Among Listed Conglomerate Firms in Nigeria

Corporate failure of an organization refers to its inability to conform to its set standards of expectations and plans, financial obligations, as well as ethical expectations and targets set. However characteristics of corporate governance are intertwined with the risk of corporate failure. Hence this study examined the effect of corporate governance characteristics on the risk of corporate failure of listed conglomerate firms in Nigeria. The used secondary data obtained from audited annual financial statements published by conglomerate firms quoted in the firms in Nigeria. The study results showed that board size had a significant positive effect on the risk of corporate failure. This is confirmed by the z-stat of 2.44 and the associated p-value of 0.15. Consequently, the study fails to accept the null hypothesis of no significant relationship between board size and the risk of corporate failure in Nigeria, the result also showed that board gender diversity had a significant positive effect on the risk of corporate failure among listed conglomerate firms in Nigeria, given the z-stat of 1.96 and the p-value of 0.050. The study thus failed to accept the null hypothesis of no significant effect and conclude that board gender diversity is a significant factor affecting the risk of corporate failure in Nigeria. Hence the study concluded that board size is significant factor affect the risk of corporate failure among listed conglomerate firms in Nigeria. The study recommends that corporate governance characteristics and composition should be given requisite attention to in conglomerate firms, as poor corporate governance structure is one of the leading and prevalent causes of failure in corporate organizations.