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Article
Publication date: 11 August 2023

Drew Woodhouse and Andrew Johnston

Critiques of international business (IB) have long pointed to the weaknesses in the understanding of context. This has ignited debate on the understanding of institutions and how…

Abstract

Purpose

Critiques of international business (IB) have long pointed to the weaknesses in the understanding of context. This has ignited debate on the understanding of institutions and how they “matter” for IB. Yet how institutions matter ultimately depends on how IB applies institutional theory. It is argued that institutional-based research is dominated by a narrow set of approaches, largely overlooking institutional perspectives that account for institutional diversity. This paper aims to forward the argument that IB research should lend greater attention to comparing the topography of institutional configurations by bringing political economy “back in” to the IB domain.

Design/methodology/approach

Using principal components analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis, the authors provide IB with a taxonomy of capitalist institutional diversity which defines the landscape of political economies.

Findings

The authors show institutional diversity is characterised by a range of capitalist clusters and configuration arrangements, identifying four clusters with distinct modes of capitalism as well as specifying intra-cluster differences to propose nine varieties of capitalism. This paper allows IB scholars to lend closer attention to the institutional context within which firms operate. If the configurations of institutions “matter” for IB scholarship, then clearly, a quantitative blueprint to assess institutional diversity remains central to the momentum of such “institutional turn.”

Originality/value

This paper provides a comprehensive survey of institutional theory, serving as a valuable resource for the application of context within international business. Further, our taxonomy allows international business scholars to utilise a robust framework to examine the diverse institutional context within which firms operate, whilst extending to support the analysis of broader socioeconomic outcomes. This taxonomy therefore allows international business scholars to utilise a robust framework to examine the institutional context within which firms operate.

Details

Critical Perspectives on International Business, vol. 19 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1742-2043

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 December 2023

Shuwen Li, Zarina Zakaria and Khairul Saidah Abas Azmi

This study aims to explore the conflicting issues of carbon accounting and trading practices in China through the lens of agonistic democracy.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore the conflicting issues of carbon accounting and trading practices in China through the lens of agonistic democracy.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a framework of three interrelated levels, this study explores emitting entity carbon accounting debates and discussions in mitigating climate change. Interview data were collected from 20 emitting entity participants and external auditors.

Findings

This study identifies irreconcilable conflicts between emitting entities and the government in carbon accounting and trading activities. Under the strong influence of government power, emitting entities portray themselves as “responsible” and “legitimate” state-owned enterprises. This study further identifies possible democratic spaces and reveals the potential for agonistic discourse and a fallacy of “consensus” and monologues in institutional space. If the emitting entity and government can overcome their participation challenges, this would significantly facilitate vibrant and agonistic discourse in carbon activities and pave the way for democratic spaces.

Originality/value

This study demonstrates the potential and limitations of applying agonistic democracy and the significance of participation in institutional spaces in government-led carbon accounting and trading issues. It enriches prior research on promoting democratic participation in carbon accounting from the agonistic democracy perspective.

Details

Meditari Accountancy Research, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2049-372X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 April 2023

Sri Pujiningsih, Ani Wilujeng Suryani, Ika Putri Larasati and Sharifah Norzehan Syed Yusuf

This study aims to discover the role of accounting and media in hegemonic discourse for divestment valuation of PT Freeport Indonesia shares.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to discover the role of accounting and media in hegemonic discourse for divestment valuation of PT Freeport Indonesia shares.

Design/methodology/approach

This study employs data from 608 news articles from 5 national media. This study uses Gramsci's concept of hegemony and Laclau and Mouffe's hegemonic discourse to explore the ideological role of accounting in the formation of historical blocs and investigate the contestants' discursive strategies through the chains of equivalence and difference.

Findings

The incumbent presidential candidate, by involving political and intellectual actors, has succeeded in taking over and shifting PT Freeport Indonesia's hegemony to maintain its power, through the ideology of divestment and accounting. The media played a role in the victory of the pro-divestment bloc in the hegemonic divestment discourse contest. The pro-divestment bloc's discursive strategy uses more formal and technical language styles than the anti-divestment bloc, which uses informal language styles. The pro-divestment bloc uses the key signifiers of low price, improved financial performance, nationalization and welfare, as opposed to the anti-divestment bloc, with the key signifiers of high price, declining financial performance and neoliberalist colonization.

Practical implications

The implications of this research may encourage accounting academics to contribute to emancipatory social movements in the struggle for hegemony. The implication for policy makers is the importance of involving the public, intellectual actors, political actors and the media in supporting diverse state strategic policies in the national interest.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to Gramsci's theory of hegemony and Laclau and Mouffe's hegemonic discourse to understand the role of accounting and media in a nationalization project as an emancipatory social movement, as well as a hegemonic shifting political movement.

Details

Asian Review of Accounting, vol. 31 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1321-7348

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 17 October 2023

S. Janaka Biyanwila

Abstract

Details

Debt Crisis and Popular Social Protest in Sri Lanka: Citizenship, Development and Democracy Within Global North–South Dynamics
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83797-022-3

Article
Publication date: 26 May 2023

Duncan Philip Connors

The purpose of this paper is to identify how the socio-economic trends caused by the economic deregulation of the last four decades have led to a high-net-worth strata of…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify how the socio-economic trends caused by the economic deregulation of the last four decades have led to a high-net-worth strata of individuals and families that conspicuously consumes luxury items and are the main customers in the luxury yacht market.

Design/methodology/approach

A selected cross-section review and discussion of relevant publications and theories within the field of tourism, social sciences, business and economic history are synthesised with relevant data to outline the factors leading to socio-economic change and conspicuous consumption.

Findings

This paper advocates for the synthesis of scholarly techniques found within the discipline of Business History to illuminate the development of a luxury yachting industry over the past four decades. Using the varieties of capitalism approach this paper demonstrates that the local characteristics of the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) in combination with the international globalisation and trade deregulation since 1980 has led to a new super wealthy class that engages in conspicuous consumption. Using a schema based on critical juncture theory, light has been shed on the specific factors underpinning the demand for luxury yachts as part of this conspicuous consumption.

Originality/value

This paper adds a new set of methodologies and theoretical tools to the student of luxury tourism that embed the practice within the context of socio-economic changes brought forth by economic globalisation since 1979, opening up new avenues of research.

Details

Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, vol. 15 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1755-4217

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 2022

Leanne J. Morrison, Trevor Wilmshurst and Sonia Shimeld

This paper aims to examine the role numbers play in corporate environmental reporting. To deeply examine the ontological meanings of enumeration in the context of nature, the…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the role numbers play in corporate environmental reporting. To deeply examine the ontological meanings of enumeration in the context of nature, the histories of number and accounting are explored. Some key tropes emerge from these histories, namely, distancing and control.

Design/methodology/approach

To explore some of the implications of quantifying nature, three years of environmental reports of ten companies from the ASX200 are analysed through a Barthsian lens. Examples of enumerating nature are highlighted and explored in terms of what this means for the corporate relationship with nature. This study has focussed on some specific aspects of nature that are commonly counted in corporate environmental reporting: carbon, energy, water, biodiversity and waste. This study explores how monetisation and obfuscation are used and how this informs the myth that nature is controllable.

Findings

This study finds that quantifying nature constructs a metaphorical distance between the company and the natural world which erodes the sense of connection associated with an authentic care for nature. These findings are critical in light of the detrimental impact of corporate activity on the natural world. The reports themselves, while promoted as a tool to help mitigate damage to the natural environment, are implicitly perpetuating its harm.

Research limitations/implications

Given the extent to which companies are responsible for environmental damage and the potential capacity embedded in corporate communications, better understanding the implications of quantifying nature could powerfully instigate a new but necessary approach to nature.

Originality/value

The insights of this paper are relevant to those aiming to improve the underpinning approaches used in corporate environmental reporting. This paper provides new understandings of the ways quantitative expression of environmental values constructs the myth that nature is controllable.

Details

Meditari Accountancy Research, vol. 31 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2049-372X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 February 2024

Olga Garanina, Daria Klishevich and Andrei Panibratov

This study aims to explore when and under what conditions state-owned enterprises (SOEs) become important players in orchestrating the global climate action and what their roles…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore when and under what conditions state-owned enterprises (SOEs) become important players in orchestrating the global climate action and what their roles are as domestic or international (de)carbonizers.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a conceptual paper that aims to advance understanding of the role of SOEs in addressing the global climate challenge. The authors build on the institutional theory to capture the importance of home-country climate regulation mechanisms and advance knowledge on the internationalization of SOEs. The authors review the literature on the institutional boundaries that shape the environmental activities of firms at home and abroad and develop the argument on the influence of home country institutions and internationalization on the role of SOEs in the global climate agenda.

Findings

In this study, the authors elaborate the SOEs’ climate action matrix and offer three propositions based on the fact that SOEs’ environmental strategies are driven by the interests of the state as owner and the scope of SOEs’ internationalization. First, the authors propose that the level of home country’s climate policy ambition explains SOEs’ stance on climate action. Second, scope of internationalization explains SOEs’ stance on climate action. Third, the progressive/increasing involvement of SOEs in climate action enhances the country’s climate stance.

Originality/value

The authors incorporate the climate argument into international business (IB) studies of SOEs’ internationalization, a novel approach that helps us to advance the knowledge on the complex issue of corporate climate action. The authors argue for a dynamic and reciprocal relationship between home/host countries and SOEs’ climate engagement. In doing this, the authors contribute to the IB research and policy agenda by exploring SOEs’ engagement in advancing the global climate agenda.

Details

Critical Perspectives on International Business, vol. 20 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1742-2043

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 July 2023

Michelle Watson, Sue Booth, Stefania Velardo and John Coveney

Globally, around one-third of food produced is wasted and thrown into supermarket bins or dumpsters. As a result, these dumpsters have become opportunistic sources of food…

Abstract

Purpose

Globally, around one-third of food produced is wasted and thrown into supermarket bins or dumpsters. As a result, these dumpsters have become opportunistic sources of food through dumpster diving. The authors' scoping review aimed to document the people that are dumpster diving and why these people engage in this potentially illegal practice.

Design/methodology/approach

A database search spanning 12 years yielded 29 articles for review.

Findings

The authors' analysis uncovered two main themes for why people were dumpster diving: (1) motivations which included political activism against consumerism, materialism and capitalism, a fun and thrilling social activity and to alleviate food insecurity and (2) the benefits derived, such as gaining free food, saving money, sharing food with others and gaining attention from the public and media.

Originality/value

In conclusion, the review was unable to provide definitive information on “who” was dumpster diving; however, this limitation provides a unique opportunity for further research that focusses on the specific demographics of dumpster divers rather than the “why” people are diving.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 125 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 December 2023

Xueting Gong, Dinkneh Gebre Borojo and Jiang Yushi

Due to their limited capacity for adaptation and dependence on natural resources for economic growth, developing countries (DCs) tend to be more prone to climate change. It is…

Abstract

Purpose

Due to their limited capacity for adaptation and dependence on natural resources for economic growth, developing countries (DCs) tend to be more prone to climate change. It is argued that climate finance (CF) is a significant financial innovation to mitigate the negative effects of climate variation. However, the heterogeneous impacts of CF on environmental sustainability (ES) and social welfare (SW) have been masked. Thus, this study aims to investigate the heterogeneous effects of CF on ES and SW in 80 CF receipt DCs from 2002 to 2018. This study also aims to investigate the effects of CF on ES and SW based on population size, income heterogeneity and the type of CF.

Design/methodology/approach

The method of moments quantile regression (MMQR) with fixed effects is utilized. Alternatively, the fully modified least square (FMOLS) and dynamic least square (DOLS) estimators are used for the robustness test.

Findings

The findings revealed that DCs with the lowest and middle quantiles of EF, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and human development exhibit large beneficial impacts of CF on ES and SW. In contrast, the positive effects of CF on ES breakdown for countries with the largest distributions of EF and CO2 emissions. Besides, the impacts of CF on ES and SW depend on income heterogeneity, population size and the type of CF.

Practical implications

This study calls for a framework to integrate CF into all economic development decisions to strengthen climate-resilient SW and ES in DCs.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the effects of CF on ES and SW in a wide range of DCs. Thus, it complements existing related literature focusing on the effects of CF on ES and SW.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

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