The Impact of Human Capital on Firms’ Performance in Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined the impact of Human Capital on firms’ performance in Nigeria considering Deposit Money Banks. The selected deposits money banks are United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, First Bank Nigeria Plc, Wema Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, First City Monument Bank Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, Diamond Bank Plc, Eco Bank Plc and Access Bank Plc in Nigeria. The study adopted Ex-Post Facto research design since it relied on secondary data using panel data. The target population for this study is focused on the ten deposit money banks five years financial reports spanning over 2011 - 2015. In this study, a purposive sampling technique was used to select the deposits money banks from the financial service sector of the quoted companies of the Nigerian stock exchange as at September 2015. From the findings of the study, it is concluded that the inclusion of Human Capital as asset in the financial reports makes the reports more relevant for decision making compared to the conventional way of reporting. Thus, expenditures on human resource like those relating to training, education, welfare, recruitment, selection, contribution to pension fund, and subsistence allowance are better accounted for when they are capitalized rather than expensed. Therefore, it is a necessity to capitalize them. In recommendation; International Accounting Standard Board should consider human resources accounting as an inclusion of non-current asset. Further research should expand the sample, period of study and explore qualitative research.