Environmental reporting practices and performance of timber firms in Ghana

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 268-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Kwaku Agyei ◽  
Benjamin Yankey
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Accounting ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Perceived Benefits ◽  
Environmental Reporting ◽  
Environmental Disclosure ◽  
Firm Reputation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
And Performance

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the motivations of timber firms in Ghana to undertake environmental accounting and reporting (EAR) and the perceived benefits from it. Design/methodology/approach Survey method involving primary data from a census of 13 timber firms in Kumasi (Ghana) and descriptive statistics including Kendall’s coefficient were used to analyze the perceptions of practitioners on EAR. Findings The study offered support for the political economy, legitimacy and stakeholder theories generally applied to the study of EAR. Specifically, the study concluded that EAR is common to timber firms in Ghana. Pressure from government, media, shareholders’ influence and the existence of environmental committee or department in the company are perceived to influence timber firms’ level of environmental disclosure. Meanwhile, perceived benefits from EAR include fostering cordial relationship between timber firms and the society, preventing government fines and improving firm reputation. Research limitations/implications The presence of biases in the responses of survey method studies can be difficult to eliminate. However, given the benefits associated with getting practitioners views on EAR and the reliability/validity procedures that the instruments and respondents were subjected to, this weakness was reduced to its barest minimum. Practical implications The study recommends that governments should adopt green tax policy to encourage EAR while regulatory bodies make EAR mandatory. Originality/value This study contributes to the discussion on EAR from the perspective of practitioners in the timber industry of Ghana, which has been neglected in previous studies.

scholarly journals Informasi Akuntansi Lingkungan: Apa yang Memotivasi Perusahaan untuk Mengungkapkan?

Owner ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 471-486
Author(s):  
Friendty Friendty ◽  
Anita Anita
Keyword(s):  
Sampling Method ◽  
Auditor Independence ◽  
Environmental Accounting ◽  
Environmental Reporting ◽  
Environmental Disclosure ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
Panel Data Regression ◽  
Analysis Technique ◽  
Data Regression ◽  
Company Reputation

Over the years, there has been an increase in corporate initiatives in the area of environmental reporting practices. The study is conducted to analyze the factors that influence the disclosure of environmental accounting in companies in Indonesia. The sample in this study are 44 entities listed on the IDX from 2016-2020 which are collected by purposive sampling method. The data analysis technique used is panel data regression which is tested with SPSS and Eviews. The results show that firm size, auditor independence and public ownership do not affect environmental disclosure. Profitability affects environmental disclosure negatively. Leverage, listing period and company reputation positively affect environmental disclosure.

scholarly journals Environmental Reporting Disclosures Practices of Listed Ceramic and Cement Companies at DSE in Bangladesh

2020 ◽  
pp. 7-15
Author(s):  
Mohammad Main Uddin ◽  
Rabiul Islam ◽  
Md. Abdur Rouf ◽  
Md. Javed Kayser
Keyword(s):  
Annual Report ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Environmental Accounting ◽  
Secondary Source ◽  
Environmental Reporting ◽  
Cash Dividend ◽  
Environmental Disclosure ◽  
Accounting Disclosure ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
Relationship Of

This study attempts to investigate the environmental accounting disclosure reporting practices in annual report of listed ceramic and cement companies at Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) in Bangladesh. To derive the results, we had collected data from secondary source more specifically from annual report. Collected data are analyzed by using, with statistical tools and SPSS software. For testing hypothesis, we have conducted data analysis with regression model and ANOVA test. The study revealed that only 40% listed ceramic companies disclosed their environmental accounting disclosure reporting practices in annual report and 71.43% listed cement companies disclosed their environmental accounting disclosure reporting practices in annual report. Both from ceramic and cement companies, no one disclosed any monetary information about environmental accounting disclosure reporting practices in their annual report. From two sectors comparatively cement companies disclosed more environmental accounting disclosure reporting practices in annual report. Another investigation was done under this study and found that there is no significant relationship of extend of environmental disclosure with Earnings Per Share (EPS), Net Profit (NP), rate of Cash Dividend (CD),Total Assets (TA); and Net Asset Value per Share (NAPV).

Legitimacy theory

2019 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig Michael Deegan
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Accounting ◽  
Legitimacy Theory ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Environmental Reporting ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Social And Environmental Reporting ◽  
Highly Cited

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reflect upon the contributions made to the social and environmental accounting literature by papers that comprised a 2002 Special Issue of Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal (AAAJ) entitled social and environmental reporting and its role in maintaining or creating organisational legitimacy. This paper will also provide insights into the origins of legitimacy theory as used in the social and environmental accounting literature as well as providing reflections about the strengths, and shortcomings, of the theory. Suggestions are made with respect to the ongoing application, and development, of legitimacy theory. Design/methodology/approach As a commentary, this paper utilises a review of the social and environmental accounting and institutional literature across a number of decades to reveal insights about the development and use of legitimacy theory as a basis to explain social and environmental reporting practices. Citation data are also used to indicate the potential impact that the papers in the 2002 Special Issue had upon subsequent research. Findings This commentary shows that the 2002 Special Issue is the most highly cited issue in the history of AAAJ. It also shows that individually, some of the papers in the Special Issue represent some of the most highly cited papers in the social and environmental accounting literature. The commentary provides arguments to suggest that the development of legitimacy theory is in need of further refinement, and suggests a way in which this refinement might take place. Research limitations/implications This paper is largely based on the opinions of one researcher, and the evidence presented in the paper is selected on the basis that it is deemed sufficient to support the opinions being projected. The paper also relies on citation data as an indicator of “impact”. The implication of the research is that it identifies a “way forward” for the development of theory applicable to the understanding of organisational social and environmental reporting practices. Originality/value The study provides evidence to show that the 2002 Special Issue was significant within the context of AAAJ, and also within the context of the evolution of the social and environmental accounting literature. The description of the history of the development of legitimacy theory, and of the theory’s subsequent application, provides a solid impetus for future refinements to the theory.

Empirical analysis on corporate environmental performance and environmental disclosure in an emerging market context

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 1061-1082 ◽  
Author(s):  
Merve Acar ◽  
Hüseyin Temiz
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Corporate Environmental Performance ◽  
Tobit Regression ◽  
Environmental Reporting ◽  
Environmental Disclosure ◽  
Significant Positive Association ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Environmental Disclosures

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the association between environmental performance of firms and the level of voluntary environmental disclosure in emerging markets.Design/methodology/approachWe used tobit regression OLS and t-test methods to reveal the association between environmental performance and the level of voluntary environmental disclosure.FindingsWe find a significant positive association between the level of discretionary environmental disclosures and corporate environmental performance. The result is in line with the arguments of economics disclosure theory that argues environmentally good performers disclose more.Practical implicationsMany of the environmentally good firms in Turkey are also listed in the “BIST Sustainability Index,” and this situation can be the result of the relative power of external regulations. Accordingly, it can be suggested to increase the community and governmental pressures for environmental reporting but also gives importance to increase intrinsic motivations for companies to engage in disclosure practices.Originality/valueThis study shed light on relation between environmental performance and environmental disclosure in an emerging market context. Also, it is revisited that the relation between environmental performance and the level of environmental disclosure by testing two different predictions on the level of environmental disclosures.

Entrepreneurial intentions of university students: a case-based study

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (03) ◽  
pp. 393-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramo Palalić ◽  
Veland Ramadani ◽  
Arnela Ðilović ◽  
Alina Dizdarević ◽  
Vanessa Ratten
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Entrepreneurial Intentions ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Entrepreneurial Experience

Purpose This study aims to examine the entrepreneurial intentions of university students at the International University of Sarajevo. For this purpose, the entrepreneurial desires and entrepreneurial orientations of the students across several demographic variables were measured. These variables included prior entrepreneurial experience, student’s gender, faculty, year of study and attitude towards more courses on entrepreneurship. Nevertheless, the research also examined how business environment influences the entrepreneurial intentions of students by considering the same set of variables. Design/methodology/approach The objectives of this paper have been achieved by using a quantitative research instrument, where the cross-sectional survey method for collecting primary data is used. In total, 173 usable responses have been collected from the beginning of April to the end of May in the academic year 2015/2016. Findings The results indicate that the greater the demotivation with the current business surrounding, the smaller the entrepreneurial intentions of the students are when the prior entrepreneurial experience, gender, year of study and attitude towards more courses on entrepreneurship are considered. The study suggests that improving the overall business surrounding and entrepreneurial education might increase the entrepreneurial intentions of the students. Originality/value This is the first paper that treats entrepreneurial intentions of University students in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

What is the stock of the situation? A bibliometric analysis on social and environmental accounting research in public sector

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Floriana Fusco ◽  
Paolo Ricci
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Environmental Accounting ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Academic Journals ◽  
Environmental Reporting ◽  
Bibliometric Method ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Social And Environmental Reporting

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide a picture of the state of the art in social and environmental accounting research applied to the public sector, highlighting different streams and the main gaps in current literature and providing input for future research.Design/methodology/approachA bibliometric method was used to analyse the characteristics, citation patterns and content of 38 papers published in international academic journals.FindingsThe findings show that the research on social and environmental reporting in the public sector is still at an early stage. Current investigations, although slowly on the increase, are still very few and localised. Most papers are about the reasons why public organisations report, what and how they report, but there are so many aspects that need to be investigated more in-depth or require extra validation in order to open new directions for future research, among which the relationship with and the differences between other non-financial type of reporting, namely ICR and IR.Research limitations/implicationsThe study shows some limitations, mainly related to the adoption of the bibliometric method. Indeed, it does not take into account books and chapters but only papers published in international and academic journals. This leads to exclude a significant part of the existing literature and other relevant contributions on the field.Originality/valueSocial and environmental reporting practices are quickly spreading in the public sector. The field is particularly interesting, given the specific connotations of this kind of organisations. However, the literature is clearly not exhaustive and there is not a comprehensive and systematic review of the state of the art on the subject.

Societal institutions and control system characteristics: empirical evidence from the UAE

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 268-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mayada Abd El-Aziz Youssef ◽  
Essam Moustafa
Keyword(s):  
Performance Evaluation ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Government ◽  
Business Entities ◽  
And Performance ◽  
And Control

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the existence of two sets of factors societal institutions and management control systems’ (MCS) characteristics in the UAE business entities. Subsequently, this paper empirically examines the bilateral and the multivariate associations between the two sets. The societal institutions include six factors categorised in three main groups: cultural conventions, state structures and policies and skill development and control. The MCS characteristics consist of four factors which are: reliance on formal rules, control over the behaviour of employees, involvement of subordinates in target setting and performance evaluation and scope of information used in performance evaluation. Design/methodology/approach – Whitley’s model (1999) is adopted in the UAE business environment and the analyses are performed at the organisational level. Qualified accounting officials and managers are surveyed. The Kruskal-Wallis test, Spearman’s partial correlation and multiple regression are used for data analyses. Findings – Findings reveal the characteristics of the UAE societal institutions and the MCS in UAE organisations. They also reveal significant associations among four of the societal institution factors and most of the MCS characteristics. The results highlight the role played by the government structures and policies group in influencing the MCS characteristics in the UAE organisations. However, these results do not entirely agree with Whitley’s model. Research limitations/implications – The results of this study are restricted by the typical constraints associated with the survey method. The obtained results have implications for researchers and managers in facilitating the understanding of the relations among the various societal institutions and the MCS characteristics. Originality/value – This research, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, provides significant new empirical evidence into the relation between societal institutions and MCS characteristics in a non-Western economy.

Biodiversity and threatened species reporting by the top Fortune Global companies

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 787-825 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph Adler ◽  
Mansi Mansi ◽  
Rakesh Pandey
Keyword(s):  
Threatened Species ◽  
Asset Management ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Fiscal Year ◽  
General Category ◽  
Environmental Reporting ◽  
Empirical Examination ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
Global Companies

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the biodiversity and threatened species reporting of the top 150 Fortune Global companies. The paper has two main objectives: to explore the extent to which the top 150 Fortune Global companies disclose information about their biodiversity and species conservation practices, and to explore the effects of biodiversity partners and industry on companies’ biodiversity and threatened species reporting. Design/methodology/approach The study’s sample is the top 150 Fortune Global companies. Each company’s fiscal year ending 2014 annual report, its 2014 sustainability report, and its company website were content analyzed for evidence of biodiversity and threatened species reporting. This content analysis is supplemented by a detailed analysis that focusses on the sample’s top five reporters, including a phone interview with a senior sustainability manager working at one of these companies. Finally, a regression analysis was conducted to examine the associations between companies’ biodiversity and threatened species reporting and the presence/absence of biodiversity partners and a company’s industry F&C Asset Management industry category. Findings The reporting on biodiversity and threatened species by the top 150 Fortune Global companies is quite limited. Few companies (less than 15) are providing any substantial reporting. It was further observed that even among the high scoring companies there is a lack of consistent reporting across all index items. A subsequent empirical examination of these companies’ disclosures on biodiversity and threatened species showed a statistically positive association between the amount of reporting and companies’ holding of biodiversity partnerships. It was also observed that firms categorized as red- and green-zone companies made more disclosures on biodiversity and threatened species than amber-zone companies. Originality/value This is the first study to systematically analyze corporate disclosures related to threatened species and habitats. While some prior studies have included the concept of biodiversity when analyzing organizations’ environmental disclosures, they have done so by examining it as one general category out of many further categories for investigating organizations’ environmental reporting. In the present study, the focus is on the specific contents of biodiversity disclosures. As such, this study has the twin research objectives of seeking to illuminate the current state of biodiversity and threatened species reporting by the world’s largest multinationals and provide an appreciation for how certain organizational and industry variables serve to influence these reporting practices. These multiple insights offer companies, and potentially regulators, understanding about how to include (or extend) disclosures on biodiversity loss and species under threat of extinction.

Operational performance measures for startups

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nopadol Rompho
Keyword(s):  
Performance Measures ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
Chief Executive ◽  
Performance Measure ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Analysis Tool ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Perceived Importance ◽  
Large Corporations ◽  
And Performance

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the uses of performance measures in startup firms, including perceived importance and performance of those measures. Design/methodology/approachThe survey method is used in this study. Data are collected from founders/chief executive officers/managers of 110 startups in Thailand. The correlation analysis and analysis of variance techniques are used as the analysis tool in this study. FindingsThe results show that there is a positive relationship between the perceived importance and the performance of each metric. However, no significant differences are found in the importance and performance of each metric among the various stages of startups. Research limitations/implicationsBecause there are so few startups compared to large corporations, the sample size of this study is relatively small, which is a limitation for some statistical tests. Practical implicationsStartup should measure and monitor the correct metrics in a particular stage, instead of trying to perform well in all areas, which will lead them to lose focus, and possibly even fail. Results obtained from this study will aid startups in properly monitoring and managing their performance. Originality/valueUnlike large corporations, the performance measures used by startups vary, and depend on a startup’s stage and type. Because of the fact that there are much fewer startups than large corporations, there are a limited number of studies in this area. This research is among the first studies that try to investigate the uses of performance measure for this new type of organizations.

scholarly journals Understanding online community participation behavior and perceived benefits: a social exchange theory perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nusrat Jahan ◽  
Seung Woon Kim
Keyword(s):  
Community Participation ◽  
Social Exchange ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Social Exchange Theory ◽  
Exchange Theory ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Perceived Benefits ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Exchange Ideology

Purpose Online communities (OCs) are the popular social environments in which people interact by sharing resources such as information, advice and thoughts on their mutual interests. Existing research lacks an explanation of the reasons of participation behavior in OCs and how such participation behavior provides members with perceived benefits. This study aims to observe how social exchange theory constructs (perceived members’ support and exchange ideology) affect online community participation behavior (OCPB), and moderated by exchange ideology (EI) and perceived ties, which in turn brings perceived benefits to its participants. Design/methodology/approach A survey method was followed to collect data, and structural equation modeling is used with 305 valid samples. Findings The results highlight the significant effects of perceived members’ support on OCPB. Participation behavior in OCs has critical effect on perceived benefits. The results also identify the moderating effects of EI and perceived tie, where perceived tie was insignificant. Originality/value The findings from this study bridge the literature gaps in the context of OCPB by demonstrating how practitioners and OC managers can enhance perceived members’ support, which result in OCPB, and thus provide the OC users with several perceived benefits.

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