SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS OF FREIGHT FORWARDERS AS DETERMINANTS OF COMPLIANCE WITH TRADE FACILITATION POLICIES IN NIGERIA

This research analysed the confluence between Social Economic Situation (SES) and the willingness to comply with Trade Facilitation (CTF) policies among freight forwarders in the Lagos Port Complex. Evidence from across different climes shows that the CTF has incentivised national economic development. The research employed the positivist methodological approach. The multistage and simple random sampling techniques were employed to gather data from 392 professional freight forwarders, who provided the desired information relating to the study's objectives. A Multiple Regression Analysis (MRA) was used in predicting the existence of relationships among the dependent and independent variables. The results from the MRA established the likelihood of a causal relationship between the dependent variable, CTF, and the independent explanatory SES variables (Gender, Age, Marital Status, Educational Status, and Financial Capability). The MRA indicated that gender significantly predicted the commitment to governmental policies that encourages trade facilitation (β= -.21, t= -4.28, p < .05), ditto for age (β= .20, t= 3.90, p < .05), and education (β= .17, t= 3.34, p < .05). Also, the result from the Oneway Analysis of Variance indicated that Marital Status significantly influenced CTF [F (4, 387) = 4.469, p < .05]. The study recommends developing strategies to enhance targeted SES factors (such as literacy, gender, age, and marital status) in recruitment and staff capacity development to strengthen sector engagement in the government's drive for trade facilitation