Just a passing fad? The diffusion and decline of environmental reporting in the Finnish water sector
Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal
ISSN: 0951-3574
Article publication date: 16 September 2013
Abstract
Purpose
The study seeks to add to the understanding of the diffusion and decline of environmental reporting practices.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews and municipal water utility publications are analysed to identify factors which have influenced the diffusion and subsequent decline of environmental reporting practices within the Finnish water sector.
Findings
The findings suggest a dynamic view of the diffusion and decline of environmental reporting, showing that a variety of forces operated jointly over time. The initial swift diffusion may be mostly explained from the perspectives of fad and fashion, whereas the subsequent gradual decline of such reporting appears to have been driven mainly by internal organizational factors and a lack of outside pressure.
Research limitations/implications
The paper relies on a qualitative dataset, implying that extensive care is needed when seeking to generalise or apply the findings to different contexts or organizational fields.
Practical implications
The findings presented here should prove interesting for public sector managers, who are considering how, if at all, their organization should engage in social and environmental reporting.
Originality/value
The paper provides new insights into public sector sustainability reporting and presents reasons for its decline. In addition, the analysis illustrates the applicability of Abrahamson's typology of innovation diffusion to the study of social and environmental reporting practices.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research is a part of Matias Laine's research project funded by the Academy of Finland (project 250478). The authors are grateful for the constructive comments provided by Kari Lukka, Markus Granlund, Hanna Pitkänen and Johanna Rämö. Previous versions of the paper have been presented at the 23rd CSEAR Summer School in St Andrews, September 2011 as well as the 35th EAA Annual Congress in Ljubljana, May 2012. The usual caveat naturally still applies.
Citation
Vinnari, E. and Laine, M. (2013), "Just a passing fad? The diffusion and decline of environmental reporting in the Finnish water sector", Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 26 No. 7, pp. 1107-1134. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-04-2012-01002
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2013, Emerald Group Publishing Limited