EFFECT OF AUDIT COMMITTEE FINANCIAL EXPERTISE AND FIRM AGE ON INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL DISCLOSURE OF LISTED INDUSTRIAL GOODS COMPANIES IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The study investigates the effect of audit committee financial expertise and firm age on intellectual capital disclosure of industrial goods companies in Nigeria for the period 2014 - 2023. An ex-post facto research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study consists of 11 industrial goods companies listed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX). The study utilized census sampling technique to take all the population. The data used were secondary derived from the annual reports and accounts of industrial goods companies that are listed on the NGX as at 31^st Dec. 2023. The study used panel regression to analyse data. The panel multiple regression result revealed that audit committee financial expertise and firm age have a positive significant effect on intellectual capital disclosure of listed industrial goods companies in Nigeria. The study concludes that audit committee financial expertise and firm age influence intellectual capital disclosure of industrial goods companies. The study recommends that the management of industrial goods companies in Nigeria should appoint financially skilled audit committee members and provide them with ongoing training and advanced tools to improve intellectual capital disclosure (ICD). Industrial goods companies can leverage their governance frameworks, while younger firms can adopt mentorship and benchmarking to build robust ICD practices.