Title Page– i
Declaration—-ii
Dedication———— iii
Certification———— iv
Acknowledgement————v
Table of Contents———- viii
List of Tables———— xii
List of Figures———— xv
Appendices———— xvi
Abstract———— xvii

Chapter ONE

: Introduction
1.1 Background to the Study——–1
1.2 Statement of the Problem——– 6
1.3 Objectives of the Research——–7
1.4 Research Questions——– 7
1.5 Research Hypotheses——– 8
1.6 Significance of the Study——–9
1.7 Scope of the Study——– 10
1.11–Definition of Terms———- 12

Chapter TWO

: Review of Literature and Theoretical Framework
2.1 Introduction———- 14
2.2 Interest Groups and Accounting Information—- 16
2.3 Deregulation Policy and Accounting policy—- 17
2.4 Link between Accounting and Deregulation Policy—-19
2.5 Accounting Practice and Quality of Financial Reports– 20
2.6 Accounting and Industry Regulation—— 23
2.7 Theories of Regulation——–25
2.7.1 Theorising and Approaches to Regulation—- 27
2.7.2 Public Interest Theories——–27
2.7.3 Interest Group Theories——–28
2.7.4 The Economic Theory of Regulation—— 28
2.7.5 Institutional Theories——– 30
2.7.6 The Political -Economic Theories—— 31
2.7.7–Regulation Strategies——– 32
2.8 Accounting and Regulation——–36
2.9 Theories of Professional Development——39
2.10 Development of Accounting Practice in Nigeria—-41
2.11 Authorities Behind Accounting practice in Nigeria—-43
2.12 Prior Empirical Literature on the Development and Practice of Accounting———- 59
2.13 Evaluation of Factors Influencing the Development of Accounting Profession and/Practice——–64
2.4 Theoretical Framework——–75
2.5 Summary of Literature Review—— 83

Chapter THREE

: Research Methods
3.1 Introduction———- 89
3.2 Research Design——– 89
3.2.1 Population———- 89
3.2.2 Sampling Procedure——– 90
3.2.3 Sources and Instruments of Data Collection—- 93
3.2.4 The Questionnaire———-93
3.2.5 Preliminary Testing——– 95
3.2.6 Pilot Testing———- 95
3.2.7 Personal Interview——– 95
3.2.8 Validity and Reliability Checks—— 96
3.3 Method of Data Presentation and Analysis—- 96
3.4 Model Formulation and A priori Expectation of Coff. Estimates 98
3.5 Model Specification– 105
3.5.1 Model Specification -A (Primary Data)——106
3.5.2 Model Specification- B (Secondary Data)—- 109

Chapter FOUR

: Presentation and Interpretation of Results
4.1 Introduction———- 112
4.2 Reliability and Validity Checks—— 113
4.3 Descriptive Statistics (Primary Data)—— 117
4.3.1 Independent variables Impacting Accounting Quality– 117
4.3.2 Correlation matrix of the Independent Variables—-124
4.3.3 Descriptive Statistics (Secondary Data)—- 130
4.3.4 Type of Industry——– 130
4.4 Descriptive Statistics on Explanatory Variables by Industry– 135
4.5 Analysis of Results and Test of Hypotheses—- 137
4.5.1 Model 1 (OLS Estimation Using Pooled Responses)—-138
4.5.2 Model 2 (OLS Estimation Using Compilers Responses)– 141
4.5.3 Model 3 (OLS Estimation Using UsersResponses)—-143
4.6– Regression Results (Secondary Data)—— 157
4.7 Discussion of Findings——–170

Chapter FIVE

: Discussion of Findings, Conclusion and Recommendation
5.1 Introduction———- 185
5.2 Summary of Findings——– 185
5.3 Conclusions———- 187
5.4 Recommendations——– 189
5.5 Contribution to Knowledge——–191
5.6 Limitations of the Study——–191
5.7 Suggestions for Further Study——–193
Bibliography———- 193