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Article
Publication date: 18 September 2017

Shona Russell, Markus J. Milne and Colin Dey

The purpose of this paper is to review and synthesise academic research in environmental accounting and demonstrate its shortcomings. It provokes scholars to rethink their…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review and synthesise academic research in environmental accounting and demonstrate its shortcomings. It provokes scholars to rethink their conceptions of “accounts” and “nature”, and alongside others in this AAAJ special issue, provides the basis for an agenda for theoretical and empirical research that begins to “ecologise” accounting.

Design/methodology/approach

Utilising a wide range of thought from accounting, geography, sociology, political ecology, nature writing and social activism, the paper provides an analysis and critique of key themes associated with 40 years research in environmental accounting. It then considers how that broad base of work in social science, particularly pragmatic sociology (e.g. Latour, Boltanksi and Thévenot), could contribute to reimagining an ecologically informed accounting.

Findings

Environmental accounting research overwhelmingly focuses on economic entities and their inputs and outputs. Conceptually, an “information throughput” model dominates. There is little or no environment in environmental accounting, and certainly no ecology. The papers in this AAAJ special issue contribute to these themes, and alongside social science literature, indicate significant opportunities for research to begin to overcome them.

Research limitations/implications

This paper outlines and encourages the advancement of ecological accounts and accountabilities drawing on conceptual resources across social sciences, arts and humanities. It identifies areas for research to develop its interdisciplinary potential to contribute to ecological sustainability and social justice.

Originality/value

How to “ecologise” accounting and conceptualise human and non-human entities has received little attention in accounting research. This paper and AAAJ special issue provides empirical, practical and theoretical material to advance further work.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 30 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Content available

Abstract

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 27 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Article
Publication date: 29 May 2009

Colin Dey, John Grinyer, Donald Sinclair and Hanaa El‐Habashy

This paper aims to complement a more conventional positive accounting theory (PAT)‐based study of accounting method choice in Egyptian firms by examining three alternative…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to complement a more conventional positive accounting theory (PAT)‐based study of accounting method choice in Egyptian firms by examining three alternative computational reasons for depreciation method choice: simplicity; compatibility with industry norm; and suitability for class of asset.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws on a questionnaire survey, sent to Egyptian companies, in which managers were asked to indicate their reasons for choosing depreciation methods as well as the actual depreciation methods used.

Findings

The paper finds that technical reasons were frequently given in survey responses from managers. However, the available evidence on the actual depreciation methods used by their firms and industries is in fact more consistent with PAT‐based theories of accounting choice than with such alternatives. This suggests that the responses to the survey reflected managers' rationalisations of decisions made for self‐interested purposes.

Originality/value

Most recent work on managerial decisions concerning accounting choices utilises data gathered from databases of published financial information and is undertaken within a PAT context. This study extends that approach by utilising the results of a questionnaire distributed in Egypt to test some additional hypotheses that reflect possible technical accounting reasons for justifying depreciation methods.

Details

Journal of Applied Accounting Research, vol. 10 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0967-5426

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 June 2007

Colin Dey

The purpose of this paper is to provide an account of the development and implementation of social accounting at the UK fair trade organisation Traidcraft plc.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide an account of the development and implementation of social accounting at the UK fair trade organisation Traidcraft plc.

Design/methodology/approach

Using an ethnographic approach, the paper critically reflects on the role of this emerging form of accounting in an ongoing intra‐organisational struggle for meaning within Traidcraft over the management of its “fair‐trade” business.

Findings

The paper argues that the implementation of a formal system of “social bookkeeping” largely failed to achieve its intended objective to further augment the organisation's accountability relationships with its key stakeholders. However, in the context of organisational change, the accounting intervention was nevertheless significant, in a quite unexpected (and possibly undesirable) way. Along with a number of other intra‐organisational factors, the intervention produced a decisive, management‐led change within the organisation towards a more commercial interpretation of its religious principles, which the organisation termed “New Traidcraft”.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to the change/appropriation debate surrounding corporate social reporting by providing insights into the complex range of political, functional and social factors that may influence the outcome of social accounting interventions. The paper also provides evidence to support the argument that social and environmental accounting interventions can be influential (if not necessarily desirable) when they are aligned with substantive changes in the organisation itself.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 20 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 June 2015

Ian Thomson, Colin Dey and Shona Russell

The purpose of this paper is to provide theoretical and empirical insights into the effective use of external accounts by social activists in conflict arenas in order to bring…

6240

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide theoretical and empirical insights into the effective use of external accounts by social activists in conflict arenas in order to bring about change.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper presents a longitudinal case study of Action on Smoking and Health UK (ASH) and their use of external accounts and other activist practices during the period 1999-2010. The authors explore these practices from the perspective of one organisation engaged in conflict arenas concerning the (un)acceptability of tobacco production, consumption and governance. The authors conduct the exploration based upon a dynamic conflict arena framework that attends to the range of external accounting and activist practices, tactical intentions and states of conflict used by ASH to confront the tobacco industry and bring about change in tobacco governance.

Findings

The study identifies the use of a diverse range of external accounts and other activist practices. This assemblage of practices was used to confront, counter-act and to co-operate with actors engaged in tobacco-related conflicts. The evidence suggests that the deployment of different types of external accounts by ASH was aligned to the context of the particular conflict arena involved, and was influenced by the strategy and engagement tactics of the activists and other actors, as well as power dynamics and acceptability of the tobacco governance in the conflict arena. Whilst ASH used different external accounts in specific episodes of activism, these individual accounts also contributed to an emerging holistic account of the unacceptable consequences of tobacco production, consumption and governance.

Originality/value

This study provides new theoretical and empirical insights into how external accounts can contribute to the problematisation of governance and development of social and environmental change agendas. The dynamic conflict arena framework developed in this paper creates new visibilities and possibilities for developing external accounting practices and for researching this fast-developing area of social and environmental accounting.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 28 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 October 2010

David Collison, Colin Dey, Gwen Hannah and Lorna Stevenson

This paper seeks to consider the impact and potential impact of social accounting at the macro level. It aims to explore the potential for “silent” or “shadow” social accounting…

5373

Abstract

Purpose

This paper seeks to consider the impact and potential impact of social accounting at the macro level. It aims to explore the potential for “silent” or “shadow” social accounting to hold Anglo‐American capitalism to account for its social outcomes relative to other “varieties of capitalism”.

Design/methodology/approach

The role of accounting in spreading Anglo‐American capitalist values is outlined. This is followed by a discussion of macro social indicators and their potential to problematise social outcomes. In particular the paper reports on, and updates, an investigation of comparative child mortality figures in wealthy countries that appeared in the medical literature. This evidence is used both as an exemplar and as a substantive issue in its own right.

Findings

The specific empirical evidence reported, based on a cross‐sectional and longitudinal analysis of child mortality and its relationship to income inequality, exemplifies the consistently poor and relatively worsening performance of the Anglo‐American capitalist model. A rationale, and evidence, is also presented for the potential of such social reporting to act as an accountability mechanism.

Originality/value

The paper introduces to the accounting literature specific evidence of poor social outcomes associated with Anglo‐American capitalism. It considers the wider potential role of social indicators, as a component of silent and shadow reporting at a macro‐level, in problematising dominant forms of economic and social organisation.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 23 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2002

Colin Dey

Ethnography has emerged as a potentially valuable empirical means of understanding how and why accounting operates within organisations. However, its use in the accounting…

11345

Abstract

Ethnography has emerged as a potentially valuable empirical means of understanding how and why accounting operates within organisations. However, its use in the accounting literature has not been without controversy. This paper addresses one of the key issues of dispute: the role of critical foundational theories in ethnographic accounting research. First, the paper draws from competing proposals for ethnography in the accounting literature in an attempt to shed further light on the use of critical theory within an ethnographic field study. It is argued that critical theory can be a valuable tool in developing further insights from ethnographic study, but that its timing within the stages of the empirical work is crucial to achieve a balance between understanding and explanation. Second, in highlighting the lessons learnt from the author’s own ethnographic research, the paper discusses the (as yet untapped) potential for critical ethnography to inform directly the design and development of new accounting systems. It is proposed that using ethnography “actively” in this way could provide the methodological basis for the development of new forms of accounting, such as social accounting.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 15 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 1997

Rob Gray, Colin Dey, Dave Owen, Richard Evans and Simon Zadek

Addresses three related, though not entirely congruent, aims. Seeks, first, to initiate moves towards a “normative theory” ‐ a conceptual framework ‐ for the developing of social…

12618

Abstract

Addresses three related, though not entirely congruent, aims. Seeks, first, to initiate moves towards a “normative theory” ‐ a conceptual framework ‐ for the developing of social accounting by organizations. Second, aims inductively to draw out best practice from a range of social accounting experiments, illustrated, in particular, by reference to two short cases from Traidcraft plc and Traidcraft Exchange. Third, draws from the conclusions reached in the exploration of the first two aims and attempts to identify any clear “social accounting standards” or “generally acceptable social accounting principles” which can be used to guide the new and emerging social accounting practice. Presents a number of subtexts which attempt to link back to the accounting literature’s more trenchant critiques of social accounting; to address the tension between academic theorizing and engaging with practice; to synthesize different approaches to social accounting practice; and to respond to the urgency that the recent upsurge in interest in social accounting places on the newly formed Institute of Social and Ethical Accountability. An ambitious paper which means that coverage of issues must be thinner than might typically be expected ‐ exploratory, rather than providing answer, offers a collective view from experience and encourage engagement with the rapidly evolving social accounting agenda.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 10 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 December 2007

Colin. R. Dey, John R. Grinyer, C.Donald Sinclair and Hanaa El‐Habashy

In recent years, Egypt has been developing rapidly from a socialist to a fully developed market‐based economy. One may expect that this economic transition towards a more…

Abstract

In recent years, Egypt has been developing rapidly from a socialist to a fully developed market‐based economy. One may expect that this economic transition towards a more capitalist orientation will influence the country’s cultural and socio‐economic environment, and consequently the behaviour of its corporate managers. The increasing separation of ownership and control of capital could be expected to increase agency problems associated with managerial decisions. In these circumstances, it should be interesting to identify whether ‘positive accounting’ hypotheses would apply in such an environment. Therefore, this paper examines the relevance to financial reporting in Egypt of some established positive accounting theory hypotheses in addition to a new hypothesis related to taxation. The evidence of the study is consistent with the validity of the conventional ‘bonus’ and ‘debt’ hypotheses and the new ‘taxation’ hypothesis. These conclusions are also consistent with recent empirical studies of cultural and socio‐economic change in Egypt.

Details

Journal of Applied Accounting Research, vol. 8 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0967-5426

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 July 2005

Gwen M. Hannah, Colin R. Dey and David M. Power

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to examine the effects of government reforms to improve the accountability of primary healthcare providers in Scotland. As a result of the…

Abstract

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to examine the effects of government reforms to improve the accountability of primary healthcare providers in Scotland. As a result of the reforms, funding arrangements for GP practices changed and new financing mechanisms were introduced; this paper seeks to investigate the impact of these changes. Design/methodology/approach – The investigation is undertaken using a case study method involving a medical practice in Dundee. Interviews were conducted with staff at the practice and one researcher spent a week on site studying documentation and observing procedures. Findings – The main findings from the case study suggest that as a result of the government reforms, new funding allocation procedures for the practice better resemble a system of financial control rather than demonstrating financial accountability. GPs were more willing to engage in discussions regarding new procedures being introduced to demonstrate clinical accountability; they did not anticipate that practice accreditation or professional revalidation would alter their established practices in any way. Research limitations/implications – The main limitation of this research is that it only relates to one case study in Dundee. In addition, further government reforms in this area mean that follow up case studies are needed to see how subsequent changes have addressed the issues raised in the current research; indeed, some longitudinal studies might investigate how cumulative reforms have impacted upon GPs. Orginality/value – Nevertheless, despite these limitations, this paper does build on previous work in this area and provides a platform on which subsequent work can build.

Details

Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, vol. 2 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1176-6093

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