Search results
1 – 10 of over 2000Thuy Thanh Tran, Roger Leonard Burritt, Christian Herzig and Katherine Leanne Christ
Of critical concern to the world is the need to reduce consumption and waste of natural resources. This study provides a multi-level exploration of the ways situational and…
Abstract
Purpose
Of critical concern to the world is the need to reduce consumption and waste of natural resources. This study provides a multi-level exploration of the ways situational and transformational links between levels and challenges are related to the adoption and utilization of material flow cost accounting in Vietnam, to encourage green productivity.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on triangulation of public documents at different institutional levels and a set of semi-structured interviews, situational and transformational links and challenges for material flow cost accounting in Vietnam are examined using purposive and snowball sampling of key actors.
Findings
Using a multi-level framework the research identifies six situational and transformational barriers to implementation of material flow cost accounting and suggests opportunities to overcome these. The weakest links identified involve macro-to meso-situational and micro-to macro-transformational links. The paper highlights the dominance of meso-level institutions and lack of focus on micro transformation to cut waste and enable improvements in green productivity.
Practical implications
The paper identifies ways for companies in Vietnam to reduce unsustainability and enable transformation towards sustainable management and waste reduction.
Originality/value
The paper is the first to develop and use a multi-level/multi-time period framework to examine the take-up of material flow cost accounting to encourage transformation towards green productivity. Consideration of the Vietnamese case builds understanding of the challenges for achieving United Nations Sustainable Development Goal number 12, to help enable sustainable production and consumption patterns.
Details
Keywords
Selena Aureli, Eleonora Foschi and Angelo Paletta
This study investigates the implementation of a sustainable circular business model from an accounting perspective. Its goal is to understand if and how decision- makers use…
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates the implementation of a sustainable circular business model from an accounting perspective. Its goal is to understand if and how decision- makers use management accounting systems, and what changes are needed if these systems are to support the transition toward a circular economy.
Design/methodology/approach
Dialogic accounting theory frames the case study of six companies that built a value network to develop and implement an innovative packaging solution consistent with circular economy principles. Content analysis was utilised to investigate the accounting tools used.
Findings
The findings indicate that circular solutions generate new organisational configurations based on value networks. Interestingly, managers’ decision-making process largely bypassed the accounting function; they relied on informal accounting and life cycle analysis, which stimulated a multi-stakeholder dialogue in a life cycle perspective.
Research limitations/implications
The research provides theoretical and practical insights into the capability of management accounting systems to support companies seeking circular solutions.
Practical implications
The authors offer implications for accounting practice, chief financial officers (CFOs) and accounting educators, suggesting that a dialogic approach may support value retention of resources, materials and products, as required by the circular economy.
Social implications
The research contributes to the debate about the role of accounting in sustainability, specifically the need for connecting for resource efficiency at the corporate level with the rationalisation of resource use within planetary boundaries.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the limited research into the role of management accounting in a company’s transition to circular business models. Dialogic accounting theory frames exploration of how accounting may evolve to help businesses become accountable to all stakeholders, including the environment.
Details
Keywords
Seleshi Sisaye and Jacob G. Birnberg
The primary objective of this research is to chronicle how the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other United States Federal Government Agencies (USFGA) agencies have…
Abstract
Purpose
The primary objective of this research is to chronicle how the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other United States Federal Government Agencies (USFGA) agencies have played a role in shaping the trajectory of financial reporting for sustainability, with a particular emphasis on triple bottom line (TBL). This exploration extends to other indexes reporting sustainability data encompassed within financial, social and environmental reporting.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopts an illustrative methodology, utilizing data sourced from governmental, business and international organizational documents.
Findings
Sustainability accounting predominantly finds its place within the framework of TBL. However, it is crucial to note that sustainability reporting remains voluntary rather than mandatory. Nevertheless, accounting firms and professional accounting societies have embraced it as a supplementary facet of financial accounting reporting.
Originality/value
The research highlights the historical evolution of sustainability within the USFGA and corporate entities. Corporations’ interest in accounting for sustainability performances has significantly contributed to the emergence of voluntary sustainability accounting rules, as embodied by the TBL.
Details
Keywords
Gennaro Maione, Corrado Cuccurullo and Aurelio Tommasetti
The paper aims to carry out a comprehensive literature mapping to synthesise and descriptively analyse the research trends of biodiversity accounting, providing implications for…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to carry out a comprehensive literature mapping to synthesise and descriptively analyse the research trends of biodiversity accounting, providing implications for managers and policymakers, whilst also outlining a future agenda for scholars.
Design/methodology/approach
A bibliometric analysis is carried out by adopting the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses protocol for searching and selecting the scientific contributions to be analysed. Citation analysis is used to map a current research front and a bibliographic coupling is conducted to detect the connection networks in current literature.
Findings
Biodiversity accounting is articulated in five thematic clusters (sub-areas), such as “Natural resource management”, “Biodiversity economic evaluation”, “Natural capital accounting”, “Biodiversity accountability” and “Biodiversity disclosure and reporting”. Critical insights emerge from the content analysis of these sub-areas.
Practical implications
The analysis of the thematic evolution of the biodiversity accounting literature provides useful insights to inform both practice and research and infer implications for managers, policymakers and scholars by outlining three main areas of intervention, i.e. adjusting evaluation tools, integrating ecological knowledge and establishing corporate social legitimacy.
Social implications
Currently, the level of biodiversity reporting is pitifully low. Therefore, organisations should properly manage biodiversity by integrating diverse and sometimes competing forms of knowledge for the stable and resilient flow of ecosystem services for future generations.
Originality/value
This paper not only updates and enriches the current state of the art but also identifies five thematic areas of the biodiversity accounting literature for theoretical and practical considerations.
Details
Keywords
This study aims to examine the impact of renewable energy consumption on agricultural productivity while accounting for the effect of financial inclusion and foreign direct…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the impact of renewable energy consumption on agricultural productivity while accounting for the effect of financial inclusion and foreign direct investment in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) countries during 2000–2020.
Design/methodology/approach
The study has used the latest data from World Bank and International Monetary Fund databases. The dependent variable in the study is agricultural productivity. Renewable energy consumption, carbon emissions, financial inclusion and foreign direct investment are independent variables. Autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach was used to examine the short-run and long-run impact of renewable energy consumption, carbon emissions, foreign direct investment and financial inclusion on agricultural productivity.
Findings
The findings imply that consumption of renewable energy, carbon emissions and foreign direct investment have a positive impact on agricultural productivity while financial inclusion in terms of access does not seem to have any significant impact on agricultural productivity. Providing farmers, access to financial services can be beneficial, but its usage holds more importance in impacting rural outcomes. The problem lies in the fact that there is still a gap between access and usage of financial services.
Research limitations/implications
Policymakers should encourage the increase in the usage of renewable energy and become less reliant on non-renewable energy sources which will eventually help in tackling the problems associated with climate change as well as enhance agricultural productivity.
Originality/value
Most of the earlier studies were based on tabular analysis without any empirical base to establish the causal relationship between determinants of agricultural productivity and renewable energy consumption. These studies were also limited to a few regions. The study is one of its kind in exploring the severity of various factors that determine agricultural productivity in the context of emerging economies like BRICS while accounting for the effect of financial inclusion and foreign direct investment.
Details
Keywords
Municipalities have the potential to become models of the circular economy (CE). This paper aims to examine the impact of the municipal council’s characteristics on municipal CE…
Abstract
Purpose
Municipalities have the potential to become models of the circular economy (CE). This paper aims to examine the impact of the municipal council’s characteristics on municipal CE disclosure and promotion.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based on the resource dependence and upper echelons theories. For a sample of the 100 largest cities in Canada, a mixed methodology is used to code and analyze data and test the hypotheses.
Findings
Municipal councillors’ education and experience related to the environment or sustainability are both likely to affect CE disclosure, and their sector membership (public or private) moderates the relationship between CE disclosure and councillors’ experience. This experience may be reinforced by membership in the private sector, which has applied CE principles more extensively than the public sector has. Municipal councils with a greater number of councillors from the private sector appear to perform better in matters of transparency and to disclose more CE information on their public websites.
Practical implications
Municipalities could use the findings to foster their transition to CE by implementing a CE-related training plan for their councillors. A CE-dedicated section on their websites could improve transparency and inform and educate residents about CE.
Social implications
The public sector could learn from the private sector’s best practices regarding CE.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence of the transparency and engagement of municipalities toward CE. The authors extend the resource dependence and upper echelons theories to a new context, that of public organizations.
Details
Keywords
Abdullah S. Karaman, Ali Uyar, Rim Boussaada and Majdi Karmani
Prior studies mostly tested the association between carbon emissions and firm value in certain contexts. This study aims to advance the existing literature by concentrating on…
Abstract
Purpose
Prior studies mostly tested the association between carbon emissions and firm value in certain contexts. This study aims to advance the existing literature by concentrating on three indicators of greening in corporations namely resource use, emissions and eco-innovation, and examining their value relevance in the stock market at the global level. Furthermore, we deepen the investigation by exploring the moderating role of eco-innovation and the CSR committee between greening in corporations and market value.
Design/methodology/approach
The data for the study were retrieved from the Thomson Reuters Eikon database for the years between 2002 and 2019 and contain 17,961 firm-year observations which are analyzed through fixed-effects regression.
Findings
The results reveal that while resource usage is viewed as value-relevant by the market, the emissions and eco-innovation are not. However, despite eco-innovation per se not being value-relevant, its interaction with resource usage and emissions is value-relevant. Furthermore, CSR committees undertake a very critical role in translating greening practices into market value.
Research limitations/implications
While the results for emissions support the cost-concerned school, the findings for resource usage confirm the value creation school. Furthermore, the interaction effect of eco-innovation and CSR committee confirms the resource-based theory and stakeholder theory, respectively.
Practical implications
Investors regard eco-innovation-induced pro-environmental behaviors as value-relevant. These results propose firms replace eco-innovation at the focal point in developing environmental strategies and connecting other greening efforts to it. Moreover, CSR committees are critical to corporations in translating greening practices into firm value by developing and implementing disclosure and communication strategies.
Originality/value
The study’s originality stems from investigating the synergetic effect that eco-innovation and CSR committees generate in translating greening practices to greater market value at a global scale.
Details
Keywords
Mohamed Ahmed Abobakr, Magdy Abdel-Kader and Ahmed Fouad F. Elbayoumi
This paper aims to investigate the influence of sustainable enterprise resource planning (S-ERPs) systems implementation on sustainability performance.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the influence of sustainable enterprise resource planning (S-ERPs) systems implementation on sustainability performance.
Design/methodology/approach
A 1 × 2 experiment was conducted, involving a sample of 72 professional accountants enrolled in MPA, MBA and DBA programs at two prominent Egyptian universities. Simple linear regression was used to analyze the data.
Findings
The results reveal positive relationships between the implementation of S-ERPs and economic, environmental and social sustainability performance.
Research limitations/implications
Considering the research methodology used, which relies on a laboratory experiment design; nevertheless, empirical data derived from a quasi-experiment conducted in a real-world context would offer valuable insights into the existing literature.
Practical implications
For manufacturing sector managers, the results offer value as organizations can benefit from S-ERP adoption in the internal and external integration of sustainability functions. The findings also provide decision-makers in the manufacturing context, particularly in emerging countries, with tangible reasons to consider S-ERP adoption for holistic sustainability benefits including waste management, resource consumption reduction and management of sustainable supply chain complexities. Further, the findings provide valuable insights for ERP vendors on how they can develop their ERP packages to align with software sustainability criteria.
Originality/value
This study is among the few that experimentally investigates the influence of S-ERPs implementation on sustainability performance within the manufacturing sector, especially in an emerging context such as Egypt. This unique contribution provides valuable insights into the complex connection between technology adoption and sustainability outcomes.
Details
Keywords
Elvira Vieira, Ana Pinto Borges, Paula Lopes Rodrigues, Ana Maria Reis and Svitlana Ostapenko
Circular economy (CE) is receiving increasing worldwide attention as a manner to overcome the challenges linked to current trends of unsustainable energy and resource consumption…
Abstract
Purpose
Circular economy (CE) is receiving increasing worldwide attention as a manner to overcome the challenges linked to current trends of unsustainable energy and resource consumption. This paper aims to fill this gap and analyze the adherence to sustainable, access-based and collaborative consumption practices by exploring the role of CE awareness, specifically in the context of Porto, the second-largest city of Portugal.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology of choice is quantitative, based on partial least square-based structural equation modeling.
Findings
The result shows that there is an influence of CE awareness on subsequent sustainable consumption models.
Research limitations/implications
Present research contributes to the theory on CE awareness and sustainable consumption. It proposes a model that could be applied in other countries. As this research is developed within the city of Porto, it may limit generalizations of obtained results.
Practical implications
As CE practices are embodied into national and local policies, this research contributes to understanding local contexts of CE practices dissemination, providing practical suggestions for businesses and policymakers aiming the transition to the CE.
Originality/value
An original approach to measuring the awareness of CE economy is proposed, that is analyzed not only from the familiarity perspective but in six dimensions of its construction: familiarity, importance, perception or interpretation, advantages, social impact and barriers in this process. Further, the conceptual model of the impact that these dimensions have on the adoption of sustainable consumption models (purchase of sustainable products, access-based and collaborative consumption) is proposed.
Details
Keywords
Abdulkadir Abdulrashid Rafindadi, Aliyu Buhari Isah and Ojonugwa Usman
This paper aims to empirically examine the impact of economic development and energy consumption in Saudi Arabia (the leading OPEC giant and the Arab energy icon country) between…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to empirically examine the impact of economic development and energy consumption in Saudi Arabia (the leading OPEC giant and the Arab energy icon country) between 1971 and 2015, whilst incorporating globalization, financial development and capital accumulation.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses econometric tools and the analytical framework based on the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model.
Findings
The study found that, unlike economic development, globalization and financial development increased energy consumption. Also, capital accumulation created a boost in the country’s energy consumption. Results of variance decomposition indicate that the innovative shocks in globalization and financial development affected energy consumption at the rates of 15.28% and 28.98%, respectively, over 15 years’ period, while shocks in capital accumulation affected energy consumption at a rate of only about 1.24%. In addition, the results of impulse response function show that globalization and economic development were highly responsive to shocks in financial development, and capital accumulation greatly spurred financial development.
Research limitations/implications
The findings of this study have implication for promoting an efficient and sustainable energy systems that enhance sustainable development based on the accrued benefits of globalization, financial development and capital accumulation.
Originality/value
Given the increasing level of globalization, financial development and energy consumption, our study uses econometric tools and the analytical framework based on the ARDL model to revisit how energy consumption is influenced by economic development in Saudi Arabia by incorporating other determinants of energy consumption such as globalization, financial development and capital accumulation. The results were validated based on the innovative accounting.
Details