Sustainability, Environmental Performance And Disclosures (advances In Environmental Accounting & Management) (advances In Environmental Accounting And Management)

Features papers that discuss various aspects of sustainability, environmental performance, and environmental disclosures. This title also contains papers that analyze what firms do about environmental issues and how these activities and their impact on the environment are disclosed in the financial statements. Accounting as an academic discipline has not made any real strides in addressing social and environmental concerns facing this planet. Since the first volume of the series was published in 2000, there have been no changes in the focus of accounting and it is still taught and practiced in the same way. Social/environmental/sustainability accounting is still a fringe subject despite the fact that ignoring environmental issues has serious consequences for the survival of this planet. Unless social and environmental accounting is formally recognized, firms will continue to view it as a means to convey information that enables them to manage their reputation without actually making any real efforts to improve the environment. The papers included in this volume discuss different aspects of sustainability, environmental performance, and environmental disclosures. Overall, it is fairly obvious from these papers that firms are aware of the impact of their activities on the environment. Some of the papers analyze what firms do about environmental issues and how these activities and their impact on the environment are disclosed in the financial statements. Though the papers come to different conclusions, it becomes clear from these studies that firms have problems in managing the impact of their environmental activities as well as in disclosing full and realistic information on these activities. Thus, it appears from these papers that firms manage their message to look good to outsiders Front cover 1 Sustainability, Environmental Performance and Disclosures 3 Copyright page 4 Contents 5 List of contributors 7 Editorial Board 9 List of AD HOC Reviewers 11 Editors introduction 13 Chapter 1. Some theories for social accounting?: A review essay and a tentative pedagogic categorisation of theorisations around social accounting 17 1. Introduction 18 2. Background and social accounting diversity 20 3. An initial look at theory and worldviews 22 4. Some theory for social accounting? 24 5. Social accounting and system-level/meta-theories 27 6. Increasing resolution - sub-system-level/meso-theories 35 7. Micro-level/theories of social accounting and organisations 40 8. Social accounting inside the organisation (micro theory II) 48 9. Individual-level theories (micro-level III) 52 10. Summary and conclusions 54 Notes 56 Acknowledgments 61 References 61 Appendix. A selection of authors and theories in social accounting 70 Chapter 2. Environmental disclosure in the mining industry: A signaling paradox? 71 Introduction 72 Literature review and conceptual framework 73 Research context and design 76 Results and discussion 85 Summary and conclusions 91 Notes 92 Acknowledgments 93 References 93 Chapter 3. Sustainability reporting and perceptions of corporate reputation: An analysis using fortune most admired scores 99 Introduction 100 Background and hypotheses development 101 Research methods and results 105 Limitations and conclusions 114 Notes 115 References 116 Appendix. Report quality disclosure coding scheme 118 Chapter 4. Environmental proactivity and performance 121 1. Introduction 122 2. Theoretical development 123 3. Methods 129 4. Results 134 5. Discussion and conclusion 136 Note 140 References 140 Chapter 5. Global warming and corporate disclosures: A comparative analysis of companies from the European Union, Japan and Canada 145 Introduction 146 Background 148 Research questions and hypotheses 153 Research design 155 Results 168 Conclusion 173 Notes 174 References 175 Chapter 6. Social and environmental accounting in North America: A Research Note 177 Introduction 177 Who? 178 Where? 179 Who again 182 Whither SEA in North America? 184 Notes 185 References 187 Appendix A. Accounting faculty with ‘‘social’’ (W) listed as a teaching/research interest 188 "Accounting as an academic discipline has not made any real strides in addressing social and environmental concerns facing this planet. Since the first volume of the series was published in 2000, there have been no changes in the focus of accounting and it is still taught and practiced in the same way. Social/environmental/sustainability accounting is still a fringe subject despite the fact that ignoring environmental issues has serious consequences for the survival of this planet. Unless social and environmental accounting is formally recognized, firms will continue to view it as a means to convey information that enables them to manage their reputation without actually making any real efforts to improve the environment. The papers included in this volume discuss different aspects of sustainability, environmental performance, and environmental disclosures. Overall, it is fairly obvious from these papers that firms are aware of the impact of their activities on the environment. Some of the papers analyze what firms do about environmental issues and how these activities and their impact on the environment are disclosed in the financial statements. Though the papers come to different conclusions, it becomes clear from these studies that firms have problems in managing the impact of their environmental activities as well as in disclosing full and realistic information on these activities. Thus, it appears from these papers that firms manage their message to look good to outsiders."--Publisher's description Some theories for social accounting? : a review essay and a tentative pedagogic categorisation of theorisations around social accounting / Rob Gray, Dave Owen, Carol Adams -- Environmental disclosure in the mining industry : a signaling paradox? / Vanessa Magness -- Sustainability reporting and perceptions of corporate reputation : an analysis using fortune / Darryl Lee Brown, Ronald P. Guidry, Dennis M. Patten -- Environmental proactivity and performance / Priscilla S. Wisner, Marc J. Epstein, Richard P. Bagozzi -- Global warming and corporate disclosures : a comparative analysis of companies from the European Union, Japan and Canada / Martin Freedman, Bikki Jaggi -- Social and environmental accounting in North America : a research note / Charles H. Cho, Dennis M. Patten