JOURNAL OF ACCOUNTING, FINANCE & MANAGEMENT DISCOVERY WUKARI

This study systematically reviews recent scholarship to examine how cost management accounting (CMA) practices contribute to firm performance and national economic development. Drawing on 45 peer-reviewed studies published between 2020 and 2025, the review applies a transparent methodology, including a PRISMA flow diagram, rigorous screening, and bias-mitigation strategies, to ensure reliability. The findings show that traditional CMA tools remain important in promoting efficiency and stability, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in emerging economies, though their ability to drive innovation is contested. Strategic cost management techniques such as activity-based costing, target costing, and life cycle costing support competitiveness and innovation but face adoption barriers in resource-constrained settings. Sustainability-oriented CMA is increasingly used to align corporate practices with green growth and the Sustainable Development Goals, yet its application remains uneven and often limited to compliance. Digital transformation enhances CMA through real-time analytics and predictive insights, but it also highlights a digital divide that risks excluding less advanced firms and economies. The review identifies contradictions in the literature, including tensions between stability and adaptability, compliance and transformation, and inclusivity and inequality in technology adoption. Theoretically, the evidence points to fragmented applications of Institutional Theory, Resource-Based View, and Agency Theory, with limited integration to explain how firm-level practices scale into macroeconomic outcomes. This study contributes by outlining a future research agenda that emphasizes comparative, multi-level, and interdisciplinary approaches, while also offering practical insights for policymakers and practitioners on leveraging CMA as a tool for competitiveness, fiscal sustainability, and inclusive growth.

This study examined how audit characteristics affected the caliber of financial reporting for 20 Nigerian listed non-financial companies between 2013 and 2023. The research design employed in the study was expo-facto. Using difference generalized methods of moments due to endogeneity, secondary data from the annual reports of selected enterprises was analyzed. In Nigeria, audit report lag was used to measure financial reporting quality as a dependent variable, while audit committee size, financial skill, independence, gender diversity, and activism were used as proxies for audit qualities. The GMM findings showed that the financial reporting quality of Nigerian listed non-financial enterprises was significantly but negatively impacted by audit committee independence and activism. Based on the results, the study recommends that audit committee operations be streamlined to comply with corporate governance best practices and to establish effective processes and procedures that facilitate timely financial reporting.

The study evaluated the relationship between risk governance and the value of Nigerian listed deposit money banks from 2018 to 2023. Board risk committee size, board risk committee activism, chief risk officer presence, and chief risk officer independence are examples of risk governance measures. Tobin's Q was employed as a performance variable. Eight banks were selected as the study sample using purposeful sampling while expo facto research design was employed. A few selected banks' audited annual reports and accounts provided the secondary data for the study. To determine the link between the dependent and independent variables, the study used both descriptive and inferential statistics. The results of the regression model demonstrated that risk governance significantly and favourably affected the value of the sampled Nigerian banks. Board risk committee size (t-val. = 2.0949, p

This study conducted the economic analysis of plantain production in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria to understand the production process and ensure increased production to satisfy the domestic and export demand and also generate foreign exchange for the country. The objectives of the study were to determine whether plantain production generated a positive Net Present Value; an Internal Rate of Return which is greater than the opportunity cost of capital and a Benefit Cost Ratio which is greater than unity. It tested the sensitivity of the estimated decision ratios to changing values of the yield of plantain and the components of costs and benefits. It also determined the switching values and applied Monte Carlo Simulation to determine the Expected Net Present Value and the Expected Internal Rate of Return in plantain production. The study used secondary data which were primarily collected during the Commodity and Enterprise Analysis Survey of the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria (Molokwu and Coker, 2017). The consumption of plantain has risen tremendously in Nigeria in recent years because of the rapidly increasing urbanization and the great demand for easy and convenient foods by the non-farming urban populations. The yield rate for plantain was estimated at 7842.0 kg/ha. Only one percent of produced plantain and 3 percent of produced maize were consumed or served other on-farm purposes. The rest was sold for cash. Probability distribution was applied to obtain the prices that generated the costs. It was evident that apart from 10% fall in yield of plantain which changed the IRR by as much as 46 percent, there were small percentage changes with variations in the other variables. It is concluded that although the estimated IRR was relatively stable to changes in output price, investment cost and operating costs it is very sensitive to changes in the yield of plantain. The switching value for the yield of plantain was a fall of 13 percent, that of output price was a fall of 40 percent, that of investment cost was a rise by 450 percent and that of operating costs was a rise by 550 percent. The base (without simulation) NPV and IRR were N 3,901,047 only and 37 percent respectively. The simulated ENPV was N 4,039,888 only, with a mean of N 4,000,790 only; a minimum of N 3,300,705.25 only, and a maximum of N 4,804,852.29 only. The simulated EIRR was 39 percent with a mean of 37 percent, a minimum of 34 percent and a maximum of 41 percent. Firstly, it was recommended that the government should increase its spending on building good roads and other infrastructure. Secondly, Plantain production enterprise should ensure adequate monitoring of the yield rate of plantain and ensure that it does not fall below 10 percent through proper application of agrochemicals, fertilizers, other inputs and labor. Thirdly, The Switching value analysis and Monte Carlo Simulation and Risk Analysis should be applied in analyzing agricultural production specifically plantain production.

The broad objective of this study is to ascertain the effect of fuel subsidy removal policy on the consumption pattern of civil servants in Abia State, Nigeria. The study adopted a survey design method. The population of this study comprised 469 management and staff of four ministries in Abia State Civil Service. Taro Yamane’s formula for sample size determination was used to obtain a sample size of 216. Convenience sampling was used to administer copies of the questionnaire to the respondents. Test of hypotheses in the study was done using simple regression model. All analyses were done through the use of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25.0. Findings revealed that fuel subsidy removal has positive and significant effect on cost of living of civil servants in Abia State, Nigeria. Regression results further revealed that fuel subsidy removal policy has negative and significant effect on income level of civil servants in Abia State, Nigeria. Lastly, it was found that fuel subsidy removal has negative and significant effect on savings status of civil servants in Abia State, Nigeria. The study recommended amongst that government should develop policies and programs such as social safety nets or targeted subsidies for the vulnerable populations that are aimed at mitigating the negative effects of the current subsidy removal.