Date of submission: October 7, 2021; date of acceptance: December 13, 2021. * Contact information: aifuwahopeosayantin@gmail.com, Department of Account- ing, Faculty of Management Sciences, University of Benin, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria, phone: +2348113232082; ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8908-6637. ** Contact information: muhammed.usman@kwasu.edu.ng, Department of Account- ing and Finance, School of Humanities, Management and Social Sciences, Kwara State University, Malete, Kwara State, Nigeria, phone: +234803116341; ORCID ID: https://or- cid.org/0000-0002-4303-840X. *** Contact information: eleyelehawal@gmail.com, Accountancy Department, Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin, Nigeria, phone: +2348064181712; ORCID ID: https://orcid. org/0000-0002-3158-696X. **** Contact information: gydsman@gmail.com, Department of Accounting and Finance, Samuel Adegboyega University, Ogwa, Edo State, Nigeria, phone: +2349052378947; ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4104-1197. ***** Contact information: kerimu.hussein@gmail.com, Department of Accounting, Fac- ulty of Management Sciences, University of Benin, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria, phone: +2348141598741; ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1727-0077. Copernican Journal of Finance & Accounting e-ISSN 2300-3065 p-ISSN 2300-12402022, volume 11, issue 1 Aifuwa, H.O., Usman, M.K., Subair, M.L., Philip, G.T., & Hussien, K. (2022). Board Ethnicity and Su- stainability Reporting. Copernican Journal of Finance & Accounting, 11(1), 9–27. http://dx.doi. org/10.12775/CJFA.2022.001 Hope osayantin aifuwa* University of Benin & Edo State Internal Revenue Service MuHaMMed KaMaldeen usMan** Kwara State University MuHaMMed lawal subair*** Kwara State Polytechnic Gideon teMidayo pHilip**** Samuel Adegboyega University KeriMu Hussien***** University of Benin H. O. Aifuwa, M. K. Usman, M. L. Subair, G. T. Philip, K. Hussien10 board etHnicity and sustainability reportinG Keywords: HAUSA, YORUBA, IGBO, MINOR, sustainability reporting. J E L Classification: M10, M14, M41, M48. Abstract: The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between board ethnic- ity and sustainability reporting of listed deposit money banks in Nigeria from the peri- od 2013–2020. The study examined the impact board members’ interaction from major and minor ethnic groups have on the sustainability reporting of listed deposit money banks. Secondary data was collected from annual reports and account of listed depos- it money banks from the Nigeria Stock Exchange website. Results from the panel least squares regression revealed that the proportion of directors from HAUSA ethnic group have a positive inf luence on sustainability reporting; while the proportion of direc- tors from YORUBA ethnic group negatively affects sustainability reporting. Further- more, on the example of major and minor ethnic groups, it was found that the presence of directors from HAUSA and YORUBA ethnic groups; and HAUSA, YORUBA, IGBO and MINOR ethnic groups have negative and significant impact on sustainability reporting of listed deposit money banks in Nigeria. The study concluded that banks should em- ploy the services of directors from both major and minor ethnic groups to improve the extent of sustainability reporting. Also, financial institutions, specifically deposit mon- ey banks should increase the representation of directors from IGBO and MINOR ethnic groups.  Introduction The concept, Sustainability Reporting (SR) is the process through which firms or businesses across the globe disclose their economic, environmental and so- cial impact on the society and environment as a result of their daily business activities. The report tends to support the 2015 initiative United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) or agenda 2030 in businesses and gov- ernments across the globe (Musa, Gold & Aifuwa, 2020). In the business en- vironment, SR solidifies the firms’ position in the attainment of global com- petitive advantage and long-term survival (Umukoro, Uwuigbe, Uwuigbe, Adegboye, Ajetunmobi & Nwaze, 2019). Therefore, SR is a corporate strategy of achieving the goal and objectives of firms, and at the same time, the report would drive firms towards improving economic, environmental and social per- formance. boArd ethnicity And sustAinAbility rePorting 11 Obviously, it is required that SR aligns with the vision and strategic plans of an organization (Uwuigbe, Uwuigbe, Jafaru, Igbinoba & Oladipo, 2016; Umu- koro et al., 2019). To achieve this, the boards of directors are the primary driv- ing force in shaping and directing firms towards the achievement of sustaina- ble goals and quality sustainability reporting (Ismail & Latiff, 2019). Therefore, the attributes of the board members play an important role in the successful actualization of their functions in the board. Specifically, board members’ eth- nicity have been identified to have an effect on firms performance and disclo- sures (Smith, Smith & Verner, 2006), since they have common relationship in terms of history, ancestry, language, race, religion, culture and territory (Ede- wo, Aluko & Folarin, 2014). However, in literature there seem to be an ongoing argument on the impact board members ethnicity has on firm performance. For example, drawing in- spiration from the Upper Echelon Theory, Smith et al. (2006) argued that ethni- cally diverse board would have the tendencies of improving the quality of deci- sion making, which in turn increase the organization’s competitive advantage. On the contrary, drawing inspiration from the Social Identity Theory, Ander- son, Reeb, Upadhyay and Zhao (2011) argue that this ethnically diverse board will not drive the firm to better performance nor increase competitive advan- tage because of misunderstanding and communication problem among board members, which would slow down quality decision making. Extending this argument to this study, there is uncertainties whether eth- nically diverse board would improve the extent of sustainability reporting. Empirical evidences from Malaysia and Indonesia suggested that ethnically diverse board have no inf luence on sustainability reporting (Bakar, Ghazali & Ahmad, 2019; Shamil, Shaikh, Ho & Krishnan, 2014). In the Nigerian context, there seems to be a dearth in literature on the nexus between board mem- bers ethnicity and sustainability reporting. Previous literature has investigat- ed the impact of board members ethnicity on financial performance of firms (see, Ilaboya & Ashafoke, 2017; Ilogho, 2017; Omoye & Eriki, 2013). Against this backdrop, this study aims to examine the inf luence of board members’ ethnic- ity on sustainability reporting in banks. In the banking sector, the Central Bank of Nigeria has shown support for sustainability reporting by releasing nine sus- tainability banking principles to guide listed banks in maintaining sustainable practices (Umukoro et al., 2019). H. O. Aifuwa, M. K. Usman, M. L. Subair, G. T. Philip, K. Hussien12 Literature Review and Hypotheses Development Sustainability Reporting Gold, Aifuwa, Usman, Subair, Osazevbaru and Oloyede (2021) and Aifuwa (2020) defined SR as the disclosure of businesses’ economic, social and envi- ronmental impacts of its performance to inform stakeholders at a specified time. SR is the process of disclosing organization’s information on economic, environmental and social issues as it affects the stakeholders and the environ- ment (Musa et al., 2020). Bakar et al. (2019) defined SR as the tripartite disclo- sure of economic, environment and social well-being of an organization. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI, 2019) defined SR as the process of disclosing a company’s economic, environmental and social impact in the society as a re- sult of their daily business operation. Perusing through the above definitions, we can deduce that it encompasses three aspects of business activity – eco- nomic, environmental and social aspects; thus, a multi-disciplinary approach of reporting. In the Nigeria banking sector, the Central Bank of Nigeria released nine sus- tainability banking principles to guide listed banks in maintaining sustainable practices (Umukoro et al., 2019). Okolie and Igaga (2020) asserted that the Ni- gerian Sustainability Banking Principles (NSBP) is a set of standards that was created for the financial sector in Nigeria by the central bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the bankers’ committee. This banking principle reiterate a pledge to eco- nomic growth that is environmentally responsible and socially noteworthy. Board Ethnicity and Sustainability Reporting Ethnic diversity represents individuals from a diverse culture with respect to norms, values and beliefs, language, religion, behaviours and ethical rules. In Nigeria, there are about 250 ethnic groups and 500 languages (Aifuwa, 2021). The ethnic groups classified into major and minor tribes. The major tribes are the Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba. Ujunwa, Okoyeuzu and Nwakoby (2012) asserted that political positions in the past have revolved around these three major eth- nic groups. Religious intolerance has been the major issue inhibiting the development of the nation. The recurrence of ethno-religious conf licts is a product of reli- boArd ethnicity And sustAinAbility rePorting 13 gious intolerance in Nigeria. This has resulted and given rise to ethnic mili- tias like the O’ dua People Congress (OPC); the Bakassi Boys; the Ijaw Youth. Congress (IYC); the Egbesu Boys; and the Igbo People Congress (IPC) (Salawu, 2010). Others include the Arewa People’s Congress (APC) the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB); and the Ohanaeze N’digbo (Salawu, 2010). However, an ethnically diverse board in Nigeria may have substantial board capital, which is positively related to firm legitimacy and reputation, external resources acquisition and overall performance (Ujunwa et al., 2012). Research- ers in the field of management strongly support the above argument. For ex- ample, Zhang (2012) argued that organizations strategic decisions are largely inf luenced by ethnicity, diverse members and employees. Fitzsimmons (2013) opined that ethnic diversity in the boardroom is one of a firm’s valuable re- sources of gaining a competitive edge over competitors in the same market. An ethnically diverse board might be able to understand the needs and require- ments of stakeholders (Aifuwa, 2021). Butler (2012) and Carter, D’Souza, Sim- kins and Simpson (2008) further added that an ethnically diverse board would report quality information on both financial and non-financial aspect of a busi- ness compared to a board having the same ethnic group. Barney (1991) stressed that an ethnically diverse board is a crucial and non- substitutable resource in an organization because it fosters collaboration of in- formation within the groups. He further added that it would lead to employee creativity and innovation. Randolph and Dess (1984) also stressed that in the condition of scarcity of resources on the environment, the presence of an ethni- cally diverse human resources increases the likelihood of a firms’ growth and environmental survival. Watson, Kumor and Michealson (1993) reiterated that the same ethnic group in the board is desired in the short term, while a diverse ethnic board is required in the long-term in achieving corporate goals. In contrast to the above arguments, Pellad, Eisenhardt and Xin (1999) ar- gued that an ethnically diverse board would lead to emotional conf lict, which could hamper a firm’s performance. In Nigeria, Omoye and Eriki (2013) argued that a board with the three major ethnic groups (tribe) would lead to poor fi- nancial performance in firms. Their position on ethnic diversity could be as a result of ethnic loyalties which often lead to conf licts when allocations do not favour a particular tribe (Aifuwa, 2021). Most studies on board members’ ethnicity have been previously linked to firms’ financial performance (Biggins, 1999; Carter, Simkins & Simpson, 2003; H. O. Aifuwa, M. K. Usman, M. L. Subair, G. T. Philip, K. Hussien14 Ujunwa et al., 2012; Carter et al., 2010; Omoye & Eriki 2013; Garba & Abuba- kar, 2014; Marimuthu & Koladaisamy, 2009; Zahra & Stanton, 1988; Ilaboya & Ashafoke, 2017). These studies had evidenced mixed finding on the impact of board members’ ethnicity on firms’ financial performance. For example, Biggins (1999), Carter, Simkins and Simpson (2003); and Ujunwa et al. (2012) found positive relationship between board members’ ethnicity and finan- cial performance; Carter et al., 2010; Omoye and Eriki, 2013; found negative nexus between board members’ ethnicity and financial performance, while Ilaboya and Ashafoke (2017); Garba and Abubakar (2014); Marimuthu and Koladaisamy, (2009b, 2009c); Zahra and Stanton (1988) found no evidence on the association. On sustainability reporting, few studies have been done in this area (see, Bakar et al., 2019; Shamil et al., 2014). Using a sample of 148 listed companies from the SRI Lanka stock exchange, Shamil et al. (2014) found that board mem- bers’ ethnicity have no inf luence on sustainability reporting. In Malaysia, Ba- kar et al. (2019) investigated the effect of board members’ ethnicity on sus- tainability reporting of 100 Malaysian listed companies and found that board members’ ethnicity have no effect on sustainability reporting. Hence, this study hypotheses: H1: Proportion of directors from HAUSA ethnic group has no inf luence on sustainability reporting. H2: Proportion of directors from YORUBA ethnic group does not affect sus- tainability reporting. H3: Proportion of directors from IGBO ethnic group has no impact on sus- tainability reporting. H4: Proportion of directors from MINOR ethnic group has no inf luence on sustainability reporting. H5: Interaction of directors from both MAJOR and MINOR ethnic groups have no effect on sustainability reporting. Research Methodology and Research Process Theoretical Framework and Model Specification Understanding this study via the theoretical lens, we hinged our study on the Social Identity Theory. Social identity theory is a psychology theory that was boArd ethnicity And sustAinAbility rePorting 15 developed by Tajfel (1974). It studies the interplay between personal and so- cial identities. The theory is centered on the prediction of circumstances un- der which individuals think of themselves as individuals or as group members. Gold et al. (2021) noted that social identities are most inf luential when individ- uals consider membership in a particular group to be central to their self-con- cept, and they feel strong emotional ties to the group. Extending this theory to board diversity and sustainability reporting, Omoye and Eriki (2013) argued that balance in ethnic diversity in the board organization could lead to conf lict and communication gaps. On sustainability reporting, Shamil et al. (2014) ar- gued that an ethnically diverse board would not have any impact on the disclo- sure of economic, social and environmental issues. Flowing from the theoretical framework of the study, the model was stat- ed as: In functional form; SNR = ƒ(HAUSA; YORUBA; IGBO; MINOR; Control variables) (1) In econometrics form; SNRit= β0 + β1HAUSAit + β2YORUBAit+ β3IGBOit + β4MINORit +β5BMEETit+β5BSZEit +β5FSZEit +.εit (2) Where: ROE = Firm performance; β0 = Constant; HAUSA = HASUA directors in the board; YORUBA = YORUBA directors in the board; IGBO = IGBO directors in the board; MINOR = Directors from minor ethnicin the board; BMEET = Board meeting; BSZE = Board size; FSZE = Firm Size; β1, β2, β3, β4= Coefficient; A priori expectations in with extant literature to be β1, β2,> 0 H. O. Aifuwa, M. K. Usman, M. L. Subair, G. T. Philip, K. Hussien16 Research design, sampling and method of data analysis This study uses research design. This study adopted this design because the data for the study are in cross section and time series. The population com- prises thirteen listed deposit money banks in Nigeria. Secondary data on the variables studied was gotten from the Nigerian Stock Exchange spanning from 2013 to 2020. We summarized the data of the study using mean, minimum, maximum and standard deviation and estimated the model using panel least squares. The study used the Panel least squares to test the hypotheses stat- ed because the data include properties of time-series and cross-sectional data. Operationalization of Variables We used content analysis to develop an unweighted sustainability disclosure index for the economic, environmental and social performance of the sampled firms. If sampled banks fully disclose economic, environmental and social in- formation, they are awarded one (1) while Zero (0) for partial and none disclo- sure respectively. Therefore, Research design, sampling and method of data analysis This study uses research design. This study adopted this design because the data for the study are in cross section and time series. The population comprises thirteen listed deposit money banks in Nigeria. Secondary data on the variables studied was gotten from the Nigerian Stock Exchange spanning from 2013 to 2020. We summarized the data of the study using mean, minimum, maximum and standard deviation and estimated the model using panel least squares. The study used the Panel least squares to test the hypotheses stated because the data include properties of time-series and cross-sectional data. Operationalization of Variables We used content analysis to develop an unweighted sustainability disclosure index for the economic, environmental and social performance of the sampled firms. If sampled banks fully disclose economic, environmental and social information, they are awarded one (1) while Zero (0) for partial and none disclosure respectively. Therefore, 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝑆 ��� Where: SNR = Sustainability Reporting; TD = Total disclosure (N1 + N2 + N3); N1 = for the economic indicator i; N2= for the environmental indicator i N3 = for the social indicator i; M = Maximum possible score of 158. Table 1. Measure of variables Variable Measurement Supporting Scholars Dependent variable Sustainability Reporting (SNR) GRI’s G4 sector-specific disclosures for financial service (as calculated above) GRI (2013); Iyafekhe et al. (2020) Independent variables HAUSA Measure using the proportion of Hausa board members to total board size Omoye and Eriki (2013) YORUBA Measure using the proportion of Yoruba board members to total board Omoye and Eriki (2013) Where: SNR = Sustainability Reporting; TD = Total disclosure (N1 + N2 + N3); N1 = for the economic indicator i; N2= for the environmental indicator; N3 = for the social indicator i; M = Maximum possible score of 158. boArd ethnicity And sustAinAbility rePorting 17 Table 1. Measure of variables Variable Measurement Supporting Scholars Dependent variable Sustainability Reporting (SNR) GRI’s G4 sector-specific disclosures for financial service (as calculated above) GRI (2013); Iyafekhe et al. (2020) Independent variables HAUSA Measure using the proportion of Hausa board members to total board size Omoye and Eriki (2013) YORUBA Measure using the proportion of Yoruba board members to total board size Omoye and Eriki (2013) IGBO Measure using the proportion of Igbo board members to total board size Omoye and Eriki (2013) MINOR Measure using the proportion of di- rectors from minor ethnic groups in the board to total board size Nil Control variables Board Meeting (BMEET) Measure using the total number of meeting held by the board of a company for an accounting year Gold et al. (2021) Board Size (BSZE) Measure using the total number of members on the board Ilaboya and Ashafoke (2017) Firm Size (FSZE) Measure using natural logarithm of total assets Gold et al. (2021) S o u r c e : authors’ compilation, 2021. H. O. Aifuwa, M. K. Usman, M. L. Subair, G. T. Philip, K. Hussien18 Data Presentation, Analysis and Discussion of Findings Table 2. Descriptive Statistics Variables Mean Minimum Maximum Std. Dev SNR 0.375215 0.008343 0.87631 0.187134 HAUSA 0.128129 0.000000 0.250000 0.068285 YORUBA 0.650247 0.500000 0.916667 0.113798 IGBO 0.136110 0.015434 0.261992 0.073378 MINOR 0.087815 0.000171 0.337257 0.109057 BMEET 6.014767 4.00000 10.00000 1.606731 BSZE 13.605311 7.00000 19.0000 3.266617 FSZE 9.286695 8.882551 9.675762 0.265342 S o u r c e : researcher’s computation, 2021. Table 2 shows the summary statistics about the sampled deposit money banks over the study period. The mean of sustainability reporting stood at 0.375 and the standard deviation of 0.187 which exhibited considerable clustering around the mean indicating a fair disclosure of economic, environmental and social per- formance of listed deposit money banks in Nigeria. On board ethnicity, the pro- portion of HAUSA, YORUBA, IGBO and other MINOR ethnic group board mem- bers were 0.128, 0.650, 0.136, and 0.087, respectively. This implies that about 13% of the board members were from HAUSA ethnic group, 65% of the board members were from YORUBA ethnic group, 14% of the board members were from IGBO ethnic group while, about 9% of board members were from other MINOR ethnic group. Lastly, board meeting had mean of 6 times, with standard deviation of 1.606. The highest and lowest number of meeting was 10 times and 4 times, respectively. The average number of board members was about 14 di- rectors, while the average size of the banks studied stood at N9.286695 with a minimum and maximum value of N8,882,551 and N9,675,762, respectively. boArd ethnicity And sustAinAbility rePorting 19 Table 3. Correlation Matrix SNR HAUSA YORUBA IGBO MINOR BMEET BZSE FZSE SNR 1.000000 HAUSA -0.271745 1.000000 YORUBA -0.115258 -0.040140 1.000000 IGBO 0.306290 0.183565 -0.088205 1.000000 MINOR -0.117660 0.440579 -0.193555 -0.469842 1.000000 BMEET 0.270253 0.000671 -0.050294 -0.134690 0.219570 1.000000 BSZE 0.184913 -0.314622 0.406328 0.022127 -0.173691 0.509053 1.000000 FSZE -0.405898 0.519331 0.259638 0.249488 -0.200259 -0.280281 -0.093846 1.000000 S o u r c e : authors’ computation, 2021. To ensure our data satisfy the multiconlinary assumption, we checked the lin- earity if the relationship was greater than the threshold of 0.80. Evidently, none of the relationships between the variables was above the threshold. Table 4. Variance Inf lation Factor Coefficient Uncentered Centered Variable Variance VIF VIF C 0.027022 96.43436 NA HAUSA 0.009817 6.213786 1.191370 YORUBA 0.016454 2.092169 1.305830 IGBO 0.008443 11.56250 1.123489 MINOR 0.013545 10.68079 1.114819 BMEET 0.018339 4.099884 1.140399 BSZE 0.307859 1.774208 1.040792 FSZE 0.000197 80.46527 1.372489 S o u r c e : author’s computation, 2021. H. O. Aifuwa, M. K. Usman, M. L. Subair, G. T. Philip, K. Hussien20 To further strengthen the results from correlation matrix on multicollinearity, the variance inf lation factor test was done. It was observed that our data sat- isfy the multicollinearity assumption of regression as all variables centred VIF was below 10. Figure 1. Histogram Normality Graph To further strengthen the results from correlation matrix on multicollinearity, the variance inflation factor test was done. It was observed that our data satisfy the multicollinearity assumption of regression as all variables centred VIF was below 10. Figure 1. Histogram Normality Graph Source: author’s computation, 2021. The figure shows that our data satisfy the normality assumption of regression, as seen in the kurtosis and skewness value of 2.899 and -0.152. This distribution shows that our data series was positively skewed, and the kurtosis which shows the peakedness of the distribution was mesokurtic in nature. These results are in tandem with threshold of (-3 to 3) range of Peck, Olsen and Devore (2008) in determining normality of a distribution. Furthermore, the Jarque- Bera statistics, test of normality was statistically insignificant for all variables at 5%, implying an insignificant departure away from normality (Studenmund, 2014). Table 5. Serial Correlation 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 -0.375 -0.250 -0.125 0.000 0.125 0.250 Seri es : Res i dua l s Sa mpl e 2 104 Obs erva ti ons 103 Me a n 1.93e-16 Me di a n -0.007470 Ma xi mum 0.332656 Mi ni mum -0.453358 Std. Dev. 0.163954 Ske wnes s -0.152525 Kurtos i s 2.899705 Ja rque-Bera 0.442534 Proba bi l i ty 0.801502 Seri es : Res i dua l s Sa mpl e 2 104 Obs erva ti ons 103 Me a n 1.93e-16 Me di a n -0.007470 Ma xi mum 0.332656 Mi ni mum -0.453358 Std. Dev. 0.163954 Ske wnes s -0.152525 Kurtos i s 2.899705 Ja rque-Bera 0.442534 Proba bi l i ty 0.801502 S o u r c e : author’s computation, 2021. The figure shows that our data satisfy the normality assumption of regression, as seen in the kurtosis and skewness value of 2.899 and -0.152. This distribu- tion shows that our data series was positively skewed, and the kurtosis which shows the peakedness of the distribution was mesokurtic in nature. These re- sults are in tandem with threshold of (-3 to 3) range of Peck, Olsen and Devore (2008) in determining normality of a distribution. Furthermore, the Jarque- Bera statistics, test of normality was statistically insignificant for all varia- bles at 5%, implying an insignificant departure away from normality (Studen- mund, 2014). boArd ethnicity And sustAinAbility rePorting 21 Table 5. Serial Correlation Breusch-Godfrey Serial Correlation LM Test: F-statistic 0.673695 Prob. F(2,100) 0.5123 Obs*R-squared 1.470959 Prob. Chi-Square(2) 0.4793 S o u r c e : author’s computation, 2021. The series correlation assumption was fulfilled using the Breusch-Godfrey se- rial correlation (LM) test, F(2,100) = 0.674, p = 0.5123 > 0.05 and the null hy- pothesis of no serial correlation was accepted. Table 6. Constant Residual Error Heteroskedasticity Test: Breusch-Pagan-Godfrey F-statistic 0.950925 Prob. F(7,96) 0.1003 Obs*R-squared 1.39710 Prob. Chi-Square(7) 0.0801 Scaled explained SS 1.36989 Prob. Chi-Square(7) 0.0607 S o u r c e : author’s computation, 2021. Similarly, the assumption of the constant residual error test – The Breusch-Pa- gan-Godfrey test of heteroskecdacity, F(7,96) =0.950925, p = 0.1003 > 0.05. This implies that the residual error is no constant residual in the series. Table 7. Model Misspecification Ramsey RESET Test Value Df Probability t-statistic 0.030085 94 0.9761 F-statistic 0.000905 (1, 101) 0.9761 Likelihood ratio 0.000992 1 0.9749 S o u r c e : author’s computation, 2021. H. O. Aifuwa, M. K. Usman, M. L. Subair, G. T. Philip, K. Hussien22 Lastly, the Ramsey RESET Test was conducted to test for model miss-specifi- cation. The result of the analysis revealed the presence of model misspecifica- tion, F(1,101) =0.3008, p = 0.9761> 0.05. This implies that our model was cor- rectly specified. Multivariate Analysis Table 8. Hausman test of effect specification Effects Test Statistic d.f. Prob. Period F 0.220510 (2,102) 0.8047 Period Chi-square 0.869321 2 0.6475 S o u r c e : authors’ computation, 2021. Table 8 presents the result of the Hausman test, HM (2,74) = 0.220510, p = 0.8047. This implies that the random effect model of regression will be pre- ferred to the fixed effect model of regression. Table 9. Panel least squares (Random effect model) Variables Dependent variable: Sustainability Reporting Β S.E t-Stat. Prob. Constant 16.9471 12.8123 1.3227 0.2432 HAUSA 0.6237 0.2863 2.1771 0.0345** YORUBA -0.1663 0.5650 -2.9428 0.0050** IGBO 0.0112 0.0194 0.5650 0.5648 MINOR 0.0132 0.0086 1.5293 0.1329 HAUSA*YORUBA -0.0465 0.0196 2.3648 0.0214** HAUSA*IGBO 0.8356 0.5384 1.5519 0.1261 HAUSA*MINOR 0.1046 0.1743 0.6004 0.5505 YORUBA*IGBO -17.1201 31.9874 -0.5352 0.6154 YORUBA*MINOR -3.7002 14.1571 -0.2611 0.8042 boArd ethnicity And sustAinAbility rePorting 23 Variables Dependent variable: Sustainability Reporting Β S.E t-Stat. Prob. IGBO*MINOR -23.6391 28.4093 -0.8321 0.4433 HAUSA*YORUBA*IGBO -190.3809 258.2965 -0.7370 0.4942 HAUSA*YORUBA*IGBO*MINOR -0.0086 0.0032 -2.6422 0.0106** BMEET 1.2314 0.5559 2.2149 0.0295** BSZE 0.0086 0.0251 0.3454 0.7438 FSZE 1.7203 1.2864 1.3374 0.2387 R-squared           0.811201 Adjusted R-squared   0.769286 S.E. of regression     0.204215 F-statistic          31.263721 Prob (F-statistic)      0.001603 Durbin-Watson        2.048 **significant at 5 per cent level S o u r c e : authors’ computation, 2021. The results of the random effect panel least squares regression in table 9 above show that board ethnicity has an effect on sustainability reporting of listed de- posit money banks in Nigeria after controlling board meeting, board size and firm size, F-statistic = 31.2367, p = 0.0016 < 0.05. Also, the Adjusted R-Squared for the model stood at 0.7693, which is about 77% of the systematic variation in the dependent variable, is caused by the explanatory variable used in the study. While about 23% of the variations is caused by other variables not included in the model but were adequately captured by the standard error of the regres- sion, SE = 0.004587. We found that the proportion of directors from HAUSA ethnic group posi- tively and significantly inf luences the extent of sustainability reporting of list- ed deposit money banks in Nigeria, β1 = 0.6237; SE = 0.2863, p = 0.0345 < 0.05. This study failed to accept the null hypothesis stated earlier that proportion of directors from HAUSA ethnic group does not have an inf luence on sustain- ability reporting. Secondly, the study found that directors from YORUBA eth- nic group negatively and significantly affect the extent of sustainability re- porting of listed deposit money banks in Nigeria, β2 = -0.1663; SE = 0.5650, Table 9. Panel least squares… H. O. Aifuwa, M. K. Usman, M. L. Subair, G. T. Philip, K. Hussien24 p = 0.0050 < 0.05. The study rejected the null hypothesis that proportion of directors from YORUBA ethnic group does not affect sustainability reporting. Thirdly, we discovered that proportion of directors from IGBO ethnic group pos- itively but insignificantly impacts the extent of sustainability reporting of list- ed deposit money banks in Nigeria, β3 = 0.0132; SE = 0.0194, p = 0.5648 > 0.05. Therefore, the proportion of directors from IGBO ethnic group does not have an impact on sustainability reporting. Also, the study found that proportion of directors from MINOR ethnic group positively but insignificantly inf luences the extent of sustainability reporting of listed deposit money banks in Nigeria, β4 = 0.0132; SE = 0.0194, p = 0.5648 > 0.05. We failed to reject the null hypoth- esis stated that proportion of directors from MINOR ethnic group does not in- f luences sustainability reporting. Furthermore, this study further examined the interaction between direc- tors from major and minor ethnic group to achieve a better sustainability re- porting in listed deposit money banks in Nigeria. The study found that the pres- ence directors from HAUSA and IGBO ethnic groups; HAUSA and MINOR ethnic groups; YORUBA and IGBO ethnic groups; YORUBA and MINOR ethnic groups, IGBO and MINOR ethnic groups; and HAUSA, YORUBA and IGBO ethnic groups do not have significant inf luence on sustainability reporting of listed deposit money banks in Nigeria. On the contrary, the presence of directors from HAUSA and YORUBA ethnic groups; and HAUSA, YORUBA, IGBO and MINOR ethnic groups have negative and significant impact on sustainability reporting of list- ed deposit money banks in Nigeria. Board meeting had a positive and signifi- cant effect on sustainability reporting of listed deposit money banks in Nigeria. However, board size and firm size had no inf luence on sustainability reporting of listed deposit money banks in Nigeria.  Conclusion and Recommendations This study investigates the impact of board ethnicity on sustainability report- ing in Nigeria. Specifically, the study examined the impact of the proportion of directors from HAUSA, YORUBA, IGBO and MINOR ethnic groups on sustaina- bility reporting of listed deposit money banks in Nigeria. The study further ex- amined the interaction of board members with major and minor ethnic groups on sustainability reporting of listed deposit money banks in Nigeria. From the result of the inferential statistics employed, the study found that the propor- boArd ethnicity And sustAinAbility rePorting 25 tion of directors from HAUSA ethnic group has a positive inf luence on sustain- ability reporting, the proportion of directors from YORUBA ethnic group nega- tively affects the extent of sustainability reporting. 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