scholarly journals Accounting systems in developing countries under sustainability: first glance from Ukraine and Ghana

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-46
Author(s):  
Inna Makarenko ◽  
Stephen Adu
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
Stakeholder Participation ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Conceptual Frameworks ◽  
Integrated Reporting ◽  
Regulatory Requirements ◽  
Accounting Systems

The dissemination of sustainability reporting and integrated reporting is a key trend in the development of accounting systems under the influence of the concept of sustainable development. This statement is fair not only for developed countries, but also for developing countries. On the example of Ghana and Ukraine, a comparative study of regulatory requirements and conceptual frameworks for the compilation of sustainability reporting and integrated reporting has been conducted; the dynamics, size of reporting companies, their sectoral affiliation and the standards used are researched. It was proved that the basis for the promotion sustainability reporting and integrated reporting in these countries are regulatory requirements, as well as increasing the perception of CSR, the transparency and accountability of business, the practices of stakeholder participation and assurance the reliability of reporting for stakeholders.

Developing a framework for assessing sustainable banking performance of the Indian banking sector

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 689-709 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kishore Kumar ◽  
Ajai Prakash
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Banking Sector ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Environmental Indicators ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
Banking Institutions

Purpose Sustainable development has now been recognised as the pivot around which development activities should revolve. Banking is an important component in the same and adoption of sustainable banking practices by various banking institutions is a strong driver to achieve sustainable development. The purpose of this paper is to study the level of adoption of sustainable banking tools and the extent to which banking institutions practice the same in India. In addition, the banking institutions have been ranked and categorised on basis of their sustainable banking performance. Design/methodology/approach The proposed framework focuses on the environmental and social conduct of the banks, who address the issues of sustainability in Indian banking sector. As there is a difference in the economic standards of developed and developing countries, the review of literature helps to figure out the gap in specific frameworks for assessing sustainable banking practices in developing countries. Previous researchers have made an attempt to develop a general framework for assessing the sustainable banking efforts of the banking sector. These studies fall short of indicators on the social dimension of sustainability specifically in the context of less developed countries like India, the social dimensions are is equally a major thrust area along with environmental indicators. Content analysis technique has been used to evaluate sustainable banking performance of the banks and Mann–Whitney U test used to determine the differences in sustainable banking performance of the banks in India. Findings In Indian banking sector, the adoption of the international sustainability code of conduct is still in its nascent stage. The research indicates that sustainability issues which are of the highest priority for the banks are directly related to their business operations such as financial inclusion, financial literacy and energy efficiency, and banks are more focussed on addressing social dimension of sustainability in banking rather than important dimensions of sustainable banking, namely, environmental management, development of green products and services and sustainability reporting. Practical implications The application of the proposed framework reflects the status quo of sustainable banking in India. This study is useful for the banks and all the stakeholders in understanding more about the shortcomings in integrating sustainability issues in banking. Further, the present study also redresses the extant research dearth in the field of sustainable banking in the Indian context. Originality/value This is one of the first studies evaluating the sustainable banking performance of the Indian banking sector.

scholarly journals The Impact of Sustainability Awareness and Moral Values on Environmental Laws

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 5882
Author(s):  
Rita Yi Man Li ◽  
Yi Lut Li ◽  
M. James C. Crabbe ◽  
Otilia Manta ◽  
Muhammad Shoaib
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Moral Values ◽  
Web Pages ◽  
Environmental Legislation ◽  
Environmental Laws ◽  
Academic Publications ◽  
The Impact

We argue that environmental legislation and regulation of more developed countries reflects significantly their moral values, but in less developed countries it differs significantly from their moral values. We examined this topic by using the keywords “sustainability” and “sustainable development”, studying web pages and articles published between 1974 to 2018 in Web of Science, Scopus and Google. Australia, Zimbabwe, and Uganda were ranked as the top three countries in the number of Google searches for sustainability. The top five cities that appeared in sustainability searches through Google are all from Africa. In terms of academic publications, China, India, and Brazil record among the largest numbers of sustainability and sustainable development articles in Scopus. Six out of the ten top productive institutions publishing sustainable development articles indexed in Scopus were located in developing countries, indicating that developing countries are well aware of the issues surrounding sustainable development. Our results show that when environmental law reflects moral values for betterment, legal adoption is more likely to be successful, which usually happens in well-developed regions. In less-developed states, environmental law differs significantly from moral values, such that changes in moral values are necessary for successful legal implementation. Our study has important implications for the development of policies and cultures, together with the enforcement of environmental laws and regulations in all countries.

Board characteristics and the choice between sustainability and integrated reporting: a European analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Girella ◽  
Stefano Zambon ◽  
Paola Rossi
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Voluntary Disclosure ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Board Independence ◽  
Corporate Boards ◽  
Integrated Reporting ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Moderating Variables ◽  
Board Characteristics ◽  
Sustainability Report

Purpose The role that the board can have in influencing the adoption of non-financial reporting (NFR) by companies is a topic that has raised interest in the recent literature. However, very few have so far been said on the logic that underpins the selection by corporate boards of a particular model (sustainability and/or integrated). This study aims to examine if and to what extent board characteristics may influence the choice of companies to voluntarily publish a sustainability report, an integrated report or both of them, and if moderating variables, relating to incentives towards corporate transparency, may have an influence. Both of these types of reporting tools are in fact aimed at improving company disclosure towards sustainable development. Design/methodology/approach Through a multi-nomial regression analysis, this study tests the assumptions in a sample of companies listed on the Eurostoxx600 that adopt integrated or sustainability reporting or both of them for the period 2015–2018 for a total of 2,103 firm-years observations. Findings The results reveal that sustainability reporting is associated with board independence only, whilst the adoption of integrated reporting is influenced by board size and board independence. The same two variables influence also those companies that jointly adopt both sustainability and an integrated report. This confirms that integrated reporting requires more competencies and monitoring to be adopted. Furthermore, the results provide evidence that information asymmetry and financial constraints influence the decision of companies to publish the integrated report, sustainability report or both, whilst growth opportunities do not. Hence, moderating variables can have a role in explaining this association, and especially those that are related to the firm’s incentives related to the provision of financial capital by investors. Research limitations/implications This study contributes to the literature in three ways. First, it proposes an incremental analysis of the relationship between board characteristics and voluntary disclosure of integrated reporting, considering the effects of moderating variables on this association. Second, the above relationship is examined in a comparative way vis-à-vis the adoption of sustainability reporting. Third, it demonstrates that the analysis of these reporting tools can benefit from an understanding that relies on both agency and stakeholder theories, that have to be conceived somehow complementary. In terms of limitations, this study is exclusively focussed on larger European listed firms, and therefore, the findings may not be valid for small and medium firms and for companies operating outside Europe. Practical implications This study provides useful insights for managers and policymakers to better understand which are the characteristics of the board composition that can best encourage a company to pursue a reporting strategy based on sustainable development. This results to be particularly relevant and timely in the European context if the authors take into consideration the developments of the European Parliament and Commission towards the launch of a new legislative proposal on sustainable corporate governance in 2021. Originality/value The study contributes to the existing literature in two ways. First, it offers a unique perspective on the direct and indirect effects of board characteristics on the adoption of integrated and/or sustainability reports by examining it in a comparative perspective. Second, it further demonstrates that the analysis of NFR and especially integrated reporting might benefit from the adoption of multiple conceptual lenses, in this case, agency and stakeholder theories.

scholarly journals Migration and Its Impact on Sustainable Development

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 55
Author(s):  
Muslih Faozanudin ◽  
Shainima Islam
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
International Migration ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Industrialized Countries ◽  
Population Mobility ◽  
Least Developed Countries ◽  
Skilled Workers ◽  
The Impact

People’s mobility and international migration are quite interesting phenomena to discuss. Until now, there are still differences in views between industrialized countries and developing countries regarding the contribution of migration to development for both sending and receiving countries. This paper aims to analyze based on existing secondary data the linkage between migration and sustainable development. For analysis, this study uses a descriptive approach, with secondary data as the primary source. The analysis found that both sending and receiving countries - benefited from population mobility and international migration. The least developed countries in the economy and overall infrastructure are supplying countries for this migration process, and increasing remittances and skilled workers to help other countries. Although it is realized that this condition is the impact of the weak economic system of developing countries on the one hand and the demographic that occur in advanced industrialized countries on the other. To maintain the stability of the supply chain for economic development, international migration is included as one of the sustainable development programs that apply more humane values. Therefore, migrants should be seen as potential contributors to the growth of sending and receiving countries, and some even claim that they are heroes of foreign exchange. Keywords:  migration, remmitance, sustainable development Mobilitas masyarakat dan migrasi internasional merupakan fenomena yang cukup menarik untuk dibahas. sampai saat ini masih terdapat perbedaan pandangan antara negara industri dan negara berkembang, tentang  kontribusi migrasi terhadap  pembangunan, baik  bagi negara yang asal migrant maupun bagi negara penerima. Makalah ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis berdasarkan data sekunder yang ada mengenai keterkaitan antara migrasi dan pembangunan berkelanjutan. Untuk analisis, penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan deskriptif, dengan data sekunder sebagai sumber primer. Hasil analisis menemukan bahwa kedua negara-negara pengirim dan penerima - mendapat manfaat dari mobilitas penduduk dan migrasi internasional. Negara-negara kurang berkembang dalam ekonomi dan infrastruktur secara keseluruhan menjadi negara pemasok untuk proses migrasi ini, dan meningkatkan pengiriman uang dan pekerja terampil untuk membantu negara lain. Meskipun disadari bahwa kondisi ini merupakan dampak dari lemahnya sistem perekonomian negara berkembang di satu sisi dan faktor demografi dan kesuburan yang terjadi di negara industri maju di sisi lain. Untuk menjaga stabilitas rantai pasokan pembangunan ekonomi, migrasi internasional dimasukkan sebagai salah satu program pembangunan berkelanjutan yang menerapkan nilai-nilai yang lebih manusiawi. Oleh karena itu, para migran harus dilihat sebagai kontributor potensial bagi pertumbuhan negara pengirim dan penerima,  bahkan ada yang mengklaim bahwa mereka adalah sebagai pahlawan devisa. Kata kunci:  migrasi, pembangunan berkelanjutan, remiten

Labour Observatories for Agricultural Policymaking and Sustainable Development

2014 ◽  
pp. 56-63
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Agricultural Policies ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Crop Varieties ◽  
The Right

Assimilation of relevant information within a labour observatory is a key to success of an observatory. Management of such relevant information and its dissemination to the right audience at the right time is also important. In this regard, a labour observatory plays a very important role for successful operationalization of agricultural policies within developing countries. Historical information regarding soil, crop varieties, agricultural practices, and skill of agricultural labourers needs to be maintained by a labour observatory. Information from the observatory has to be communicated to policy makers for making a pragmatic decision in developing countries with large agriculturally dependent populations. These decisions can impact the lives of this population and can impact the sustainable development of these countries. Initiatives related to labour observatory started more than a decade back in developed countries. It has now begun in parts of Africa, too. The chapter highlights these developments and contextualizes the association between these observatories, agricultural policymaking, and sustainable development.

scholarly journals Sustainable Development, Education for Sustainable Development and Philippine Community

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 29-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim Jim F. Raborar
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Next Generation ◽  
Natural Processes ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The World

Abstract Development is an innate manifestation on earth. It is not even surprising that the world has developed tremendously over the past decade considering the development in the previous decades. That is, development precipitates development. Therefore, even though everybody can see what risks it brings to the earth, we cannot simply restrain it. Of course, we cannot restrain it. The bottomline is that we have no choice but to be part of the development and be one of those who assist in the ever spontaneous development by trying to minimize its unwanted effects to the planet and its inhabitantants, the humans. Even looking at the ‘development’ from one’s own microcosm, we can perceive that as we go through life and gain some of what this world can offer, we produce tons and tons of wastes. These wastes, which are naturally not part of the earth, pollute and disrupt the natural processes of the planet. It is also simple to notice that the fundamental cause of the depletion of the earth’s natural resources was definitely proportional to the increase in population and to the development itself. Here lies one of the underlying global problems at hand aside from poverty, hunger, low access to education, and other socio-anthropological issues we have, this is the issue on natural resources depletion. Even to worldleaders from well-developed countries can recognize that they will also be the ones at the receiving end of this problem. It is basic that living organisms rely on their environment or the abiotic factors, to live sustainably. Considering these problems, the United Nations, with the worldleaders as its composition, has come up with strategies that advocate development while keeping the earth’s natural resources from depletion or the earth’s natural processes from disruption. This advocacy is called Sustainable Development. Sustainable Development is the development that meets the need of the present generation without compromising the ability of the next generation to meet their own needs. It is, at its core, an advocacy for futurism and the next generation. Sustainable Development is primarily anchored with the case of the “carrying capacity” of the planet Earth. It was already implied by several natural scientists as well as social scientists that indeed the Planet Earth increasingly finds it hard to sustain the needs of the human races because of overpopulation. These things result to poverty and hunger around the world. On the otherhand, it is increasing implied that most of the Natural Resources of the planet goes to the well-developed countries, leaving the developing and underdeveloped countries with meager resources. This further increases cases of hunger and poverty. Although it is deceptive that the call for a sustainable development should take its toll on the countries with bigger economy since they consume the most and pollute the most, it is very definite that there should be a much more intensive application in developing countries since we are just about to experience what the rest of the developed countries have already experienced. More importantly, developing countries should advocate Sustainable Development since it is a common knowledge that even if they contribute least to the causes of natural resource depletion and disruption of natural processes, they are the ones who suffer most from the devastating effects of unsustainable development. As citizens of the Republic of the Philippines, we are one of those who suffer most.

Determination of the role and value of water for the sustainable development of Asian cities

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kensuke Fukushi
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Sewage Treatment ◽  
Water Environment ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Developing Nations ◽  
Sustainable Water Management ◽  
The Sustainable Development

<p>Water is a key element to the economic development and plays vital role in various activities including commercial, households, services, water-landscape, and water transport etc. A good water environment in cities has been achieved in developed countries (for e.g. Japan) through implementation of central wastewater treatment and sewerage systems. However, the development of sustainable water management and introducing a new sewage management method is challenging for the cities of developing nations in Asia in terms of having high capital, energy consumption and the technologies. This paper is evaluating the role and importance of sustainable development of water management methods and systems. Our findings suggest that the developed and developing countries must come forward and work together for the sustainable development of the cities in developing nations particularly by providing skills and efficient technologies for the improvement of water quality and wastewater treatment systems. For this, the progress of a systematic supported decision-making tool to allow investors and consumers to contribute to the development of sustainable water management methods and sewage treatment systems through bi- and multilateral investments. In addition, the active involvement of multi-stakeholders (citizens, local municipalities, industries, policy makers) with financial and non-financial institutions would help to create a “sustainable cities” in developing countries.</p>

scholarly journals Comparative Studies on Patient Safety Culture to Strengthen Health Systems Among Southeast Asian Countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunjoo Kang ◽  
Trang Thi Thuy Ho ◽  
Nam-Ju Lee
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Patient Safety ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
Safety Culture ◽  
Patient Safety Culture ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Southeast Asian ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Southeast Asian Countries

Patient safety is an important issue in health systems worldwide. A systematic review of previous studies on patient safety culture in Southeast Asian countries is necessary for South Korea's partnership with these countries, especially given South Korea's assistance in strengthening the health systems of these developing countries. Studies on patient safety culture in Southeast Asian countries, published in English and Thai languages, were retrieved from computerized databases using keywords through a manual search. Data extraction, quality assessment, and analyses were performed using several tools. The review included 21 studies conducted in Indonesia (n = 8), Thailand (n = 5), Malaysia (n = 3), Vietnam (n = 2), Singapore (n = 1), and the Philippines (n = 1). They were analyzed and categorized into 12 dimensions of safety culture, and differences in response rate or scores were identified compared to the mean of the dimensions. The heterogeneous of safety culture's situation among Southeast Asian countries, both in practice and in research, can be explained since patient safety policy and its application are not prioritized as much as they are in developed countries in the priority compared to the developed countries. However, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos are the priority countries for South Korea's official healthcare development assistance in the Southeast Asia region. Vietnam, for instance, is an economically transitioning country; therefore, consolidated patient safety improvement by inducing patient safety culture in the provincial and central health system as well as strengthening project formulation to contribute to health policy formation are needed for sustainable development of the partner countries' health systems. It is recommended that more evidence-based proactive project planning and implementation be conducted to integrate patient safety culture into the health systems of developing countries, toward health policy on patient safety and quality service for the attainment of sustainable development goals in South Korea's development cooperation.

scholarly journals Sustainable Development of Tourism in the Eastern Europe: A Case Study of Romania

2007 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-20
Author(s):  
Nedelea J ◽  
Babu P George
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Quality Level ◽  
Predatory Behaviour ◽  
Poverty Threshold ◽  
Standards Of Living ◽  
Education Culture ◽  
Tourism Flows

The strategies of sustainable development emphasize the interdependence between the local and the global, between the already developed countries and the ones following this course, underlining the necessity of cooperation within economical, social and environmental sections. Since, tourism plays an important role in the improvement standards of living and rising people above the poverty threshold, it has become a platform to transform the vicious circles of misery, into virtuous circles towards productive transformation, welfare and improvement of human capita/. The complexity involved in constructing knowledge in different contextual frames make the entire debate on sustainable tourism extremely problematic, especially since stake holding communities are spread across continents and cultures. Many developing countries have found important to improve the linking of tourism (forward and backward) with the other sectors of the economy, so as to capitalize on the benefits of the globalisation and internationalisation of markets. Despite developing countries effort to develop the most suitable domestic policy environment, the economic sustainability of tourism is being undermined by external factors beyond their control, notably the predatory behaviour of integrated suppliers which enjoy a dominant position in the originating markets of tourism flows. Today, the Romanian hospitality industry confronts itself with problems such as the decline of the internal and external touristic demand, an old touristic product, the low standard in the services which do not satisfy the tourists' expectations, the payment and too high prices compared to the quality of the services, an insufficient promotion. Among the countries from the East and Center Europe, Romania is considered the country which possesses the richest and most varied natural touristic resources created by man and this gives a great disposability for tourism. The Romanian international touristic demand registers a diminution tendency due to some causes such as the low quality level of the offered touristic services, the touristic services non-diversification, the reduced amusement possibilities. Regional development policy is an ensemble of measures planned and promoted by the local and central public administration authorities, having as partners different actors (private, public, volunteers) in order to ensure a dynamic and lasting economic growth, through the effective use of the local and regional potential, in order to improve living conditions. The main areas regarded by the regional policies are development of enterprises, the labor market, attracting investments, development of the SMEs sector, improvement of infrastructure, the quality of the environment, rural development, health, education, culture. Any tourism growth and development activities in Romania should not be myopic and sustainability should be ensured at all levels: both inter and intro-generational.

Multi-utility framework: blockchain exchange platform for sustainable development

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacques Bou Abdo ◽  
Sherali Zeadally
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Rainwater Harvesting ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Peer To Peer ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sustainable Solutions ◽  
Blockchain Technology

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to design a sustainable development platform for water and energy peer-to-peer trading that is financially and economically feasible. Water and other resources are becoming scarcer every day, and developing countries are the neediest for an immediate intervention. Water, as a national need, is considered to be one of the most precious commodities, but it is also one of the main causes for conflicts in the 21st century. Rainwater harvesting and peer-to-peer trading of the harvested water is one of the most convenient, scalable and sustainable solutions but faces organization challenges such as the absence of suitable business models motivating normal users to sell their generated resources (such as water and energy), currency and financial settlement complexities and single utility markets. Design/methodology/approach This paper proposes a multi-utility trading platform based on the blockchain technology which can address the challenges faced by peer-to-peer trading for resources such as energy and water. Findings This paper presents a peer-to-peer multi-utility trading platform that solves the shortcomings of existing utility frameworks reported in the current literature. Originality/value This proposed platform meets the needs of developing countries as well as rural areas of developed countries. The open nature of the proposed design makes it suitable for adoption and use by various stakeholders.

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