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We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in the construction of hegemonies in SEA research in Brazil. In particular, we examine the role of hegemony in relation to the co-option of SEA literature and sustainability in the Brazilian context by the logic of development for economic growth in emerging economies. The methodological approach adopts a post-structural perspective that reflects Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. The study employs a hermeneutical, rhetorical approach to understand and classify 352 Brazilian research articles on SEA. We employ Brown and Fraser’s (2006) categorizations of SEA literature to help in our analysis: the business case, the stakeholder–accountability approach, and the critical case. We argue that the business case is prominent in Brazilian studies. Second-stage analysis suggests that the major themes under discussion include measurement, consulting, and descriptive approach. We argue that these themes illustrate the degree of influence of the hegemonic politics relevant to emerging economics, as these themes predominantly concern economic growth and a capitalist context. This paper discusses trends and practices in the Brazilian literature on SEA and argues that the focus means that SEA avoids critical debates of the role of capitalist logics in an emerging economy concerning sustainability. We urge the Brazilian academy to understand the implications of its reifying agenda and engage, counter-hegemonically, in a social and political agenda beyond the hegemonic support of a particular set of capitalist interests.

We compare the financial stock performance of companies that participate in the Carbon Efficient Index (ICO2) and those that participate only in market-wide indices of the BM&FBovespa (the IBOV, IBrX50, and IBrX100). The data includes the daily quotations of the shares from these four indices for September 2010 to December 2014. We exclude companies from market-wide indices that also participated in the ICO2. We use the stock market and average volume liquidity indices in order to analyze liquidity. We employ financial indicators to analyze the performance of the indices. Returns of companies participating in the ICO2 exceed those of all other companies except those participating in the IBrX50. The returns of all indices are statistically similar. There is a proven long-term equilibrium relationship between the indices’ returns. The ICO2 does not present obvious superiority in terms of the Sharpe and Jensen indices, although the results surpass those of the market-wide indices. Although the financial performance of sustainable companies does not surpass that of other companies, the economic benefits are similar. Thus, even though the financial result presents no significant difference, it is crucial to acknowledge that investing in sustainable stocks does not result in financial loss; rather, it has a positive environmental impact. The literature connecting the performance of the shares of the ICO2 and broad indices is scarce. Our study improves understanding of how company stocks can generate economic benefits to both society and companies.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate sustainability have gained prominence in the major capital markets. In Brazil, the São Paulo Stock Exchange (BM&FBovespa) has created the Corporate Sustainability Index (ISE) and the Carbon Efficient Index (ICO2), responsible for indicating the performance of sustainable companies. Therefore, this study proposes to examine and compare the stock returns of the sustainability index member companies with the returns of companies out of these indexes. In this methodology we selected the two principal negotiability indexes of that market (IBOV and IBrX50), which are indexes that meet the most traded stocks of BM&FBovespa, and calculated the average daily returns of the four indexes in order to make performance comparisons over the period 2005–2014, based on nonparametric statistical tests. Our findings indicate that the average returns of sustainability indexes were higher, but these differences were not statistically significant, confirming previous evidence. Additionally, by means of a cointegration test, we found that the indexes are cointegrated in the long term. These findings are limited to the analyzed emerging market and are also subject to the limitations of the estimated models. Thus, we can infer that presence in the sustainability indexes does not indicate statistically significant higher returns, which means that companies with sustainable practices in Brazil are not only concerned with economic performance, but also with social, cultural, and environmental issues. The main findings are aligned with the concept of triple bottom line, even in the case of an emerging market.

The chapter seeks to reflect on the dynamics of the reconstruction of family farming and peasant agriculture in agrarian reform settlements (“assentamentos”) in Brazil, exploring the limits and potential of government food purchases from family farming, particularly the Food Acquisition Program (Programa de Aquisição de Alimentos – PAA), in the creation of alternative paths of rural development. The work analyzes the different strategies through which farmers and their organizations mobilize public policy instruments and market connections, expanding their room for maneuver and agency capacity. Research was conducted in the Baixo Sul Territory of the state of Bahia, focusing the heterogeneous web of social organizations involved in the implementation of the Food Acquisition Program in this setting.

The perception that a particular place is unsafe to live can significantly affect the quality of life of individuals who live there. In Brazil, crime rates in urban centres increase every year, which leads to a constant sense of fear shared by the population. Safety perception may affect the way people move in their neighbourhood and interact with the public environment. In the present study, we addressed the question of safety perception of residents of three areas of the Federal District, the capital of Brazil, and how this perception impacts walking behaviour. Seventeen residents participated in go-along ethnographic interviews, being accompanied in their daily journeys. Each interview recorded the interaction of the participants with the surroundings during their journey. The observations were submitted to content analysis to verify how perception of safety, insecurity and fear of crime affect the decision to walk. The results indicate that the decision to walk interacted with a more positive view of the neighbourhood, that is, perception of safety enhances walking. On the other hand, perception of insecurity and fear of crime discourage the occurrence of this behaviour. The more people fear crime and perceive a place as unsafe, the less they walk and the more they avoid walking in certain places. We conclude with a short note about the use of participatory mobile methods for the study of complex social phenomena such as perceptions and fear of crime.

Purpose – Scientific studies have shown that the coastal zone is one of the regions showing great vulnerability to the impacts of global environmental change. For the region, impacts that may directly affect the economy and daily life of the communities of coastal municipalities were predicted. It occurs from phenomena, e.g. temperature rise, sea level rise, salinity, acidification of the seas and extreme events.

Methodology/approach – The mariculture labourers and artisan fishers from the Cocanha beach (Caraguatatuba city, north coast of the state of São Paulo), a lookout group, are the first persons to perceive the environmental change impacts in their daily contact with natural resources. Thus, the aim herein was to (a) verify their perception on the amount and quality of mussels and fish catch and (b) if such changes could be related to global environmental changes. In order to do so, semi-structured interviews with this social group were conducted in November 2009–February 2011 and codified by using the NVIVO8 software.

Findings – The results indicated a decrease in fish stocks and, according to interviewees, such decrease was tied in with changes in fishing, in climate, and in beach landscape. Moreover, the category related to increased water temperature was highly significant, since the fishing and mariculture activities are directly influenced by this factor.

Research limitations – The perception evaluation through interviews with artisanal fishermen and shellfishermen implies that many subjective aspects are present, as well as the role of the media that has published significant information on climate change in the contemporary world.

Originality/value of paper – There are few studies that present these perspectives; however, the authors believe that it is possible, while recognising the possible limitations of the method, to recognise something that is already perceived by the community and may help to evaluate the reality they face and to contribute actually to the construction of future public policies.