Martina K. Linnenluecke and Brent McKnight
The paper aims to examine the conditions under which disaster entrepreneurship contributes to community-level resilience. The authors define disaster entrepreneurship as attempts…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to examine the conditions under which disaster entrepreneurship contributes to community-level resilience. The authors define disaster entrepreneurship as attempts by the private sector to create or maintain value during and in the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster by taking advantage of business opportunities and providing goods and services required by community stakeholders.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper builds a typology of disaster entrepreneurial responses by drawing on the dimensions of structural expansion and role change. The authors use illustrative case examples to conceptualize how these responses improve community resilience by filling critical resource voids in the aftermath of natural disasters.
Findings
The typology identifies four different disaster entrepreneurship approaches: entrepreneurial business continuity, scaling of organizational response through activating latent structures, improvising and emergence. The authors formulate proposition regarding how each of the approaches is related to community-level resilience.
Practical implications
While disaster entrepreneurship can offer for-profit opportunities for engaging in community-wide disaster response and recovery efforts, firms should carefully consider the financial, legal, reputational and organizational implications of disaster entrepreneurship.
Social implications
Communities should consider how best to harness disaster entrepreneurship in designing their disaster response strategies.
Originality/value
This research offers a novel typology to explore the role that for-profit firms play in disaster contexts and adds to prior research which has mostly focused on government agencies, non-governmental organizations and emergency personnel.
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This paper aims to examine the state of research on environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance in the context of multinational business research. This paper discusses…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the state of research on environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance in the context of multinational business research. This paper discusses research progress as well as various issues and complexities associated with using ESG ratings in cross-country studies and for assessing the performance of multinational enterprises (MNE) and emerging market multinationals (EMNEs).
Design/methodology/approach
The paper identifies emerging literature that focuses on tracking the development and uptake of ESG ratings in the international context. It discusses three emerging research streams: Research examining the ESG-financial performance relationship in emerging markets, research tracking the ESG performance of multinationals in the various countries and regions they are operating, and frameworks for assessing ESG-related risks on a country level.
Findings
While the emerging body of work adds an important dimension to the identification and awareness of ESG issues globally, numerous unresolved issues become evident. ESG frameworks have been built to assess corporate sustainability as it relates to firms in their “home” countries (typically with a focus on developed countries), with limited applicability and transferability to emerging markets. International firm activities are often not captured in detail and not comprehensively mapped across firm subsidiaries and a firm’s corporate supply chain where ESG issues are prone to happen, and ESG scores do not comprehensively integrate views and voices from various local stakeholders that are impacted by firm activities, particularly indigenous communities.
Research limitations/implications
Research on ESG ratings in the context of multinational business research is generally sparse and fragmented, thus creating opportunities for future research to expand on existing and emerging findings.
Practical implications
The paper creates awareness of issues to consider when using ESG ratings in cross-country studies and for assessing the ESG performance of MNEs and EMNEs: ESG scores can be subject to bias and are not weighted by materiality, which can be misleading for portfolio construction and performance measurement purposes. Managers need to be aware that ESG scores are often not capturing ESG issues occurring in supply chains and ESG issues affecting local communities.
Originality/value
This study enriches the understanding of ESG in the context of multinational business research practice.
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Adrian Gepp, Martina K. Linnenluecke, Terrence J. O’Neill and Tom Smith
This paper analyses the use of big data techniques in auditing, and finds that the practice is not as widespread as it is in other related fields. We first introduce contemporary…
Abstract
This paper analyses the use of big data techniques in auditing, and finds that the practice is not as widespread as it is in other related fields. We first introduce contemporary big data techniques to promote understanding of their potential application. Next, we review existing research on big data in accounting and finance. In addition to auditing, our analysis shows that existing research extends across three other genealogies: financial distress modelling, financial fraud modelling, and stock market prediction and quantitative modelling. Auditing is lagging behind the other research streams in the use of valuable big data techniques. A possible explanation is that auditors are reluctant to use techniques that are far ahead of those adopted by their clients, but we refute this argument. We call for more research and a greater alignment to practice. We also outline future opportunities for auditing in the context of real-time information and in collaborative platforms and peer-to-peer marketplaces.
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Mauricio Marrone, Martina K. Linnenluecke, Grant Richardson and Tom Smith
The purpose of this article is to track the emergence of topics and research trends in environmental accounting research by using a machine learning method for literature reviews…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to track the emergence of topics and research trends in environmental accounting research by using a machine learning method for literature reviews. The article shows how the method can track the emergence of topics and research trends over time.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis of the emergence of topics and shifts in research trends was based on a machine learning approach that allowed the authors to identify “topic bursts” in publication data. The data set of this study contained, 2,502 records published between 1972 and 2019, both within and outside of accounting journals. The data set was assembled through a systematic keyword search of the literature.
Findings
Findings indicated that research studies within accounting journals have addressed sustainability concerns in a general fashion, with a recent focus on broad topics such as corporate social responsibility (CSR) and stakeholder theory. Research studies published outside of accounting journals have focussed on more specific topics (e.g. the shift to a low-carbon or circular economy, the attainment of the sustainable development goals [SDGs], etc.) and new methodologies (e.g. accounting for ecosystem services).
Research limitations/implications
The method provides an approach for identifying “trending” topics within accounting and non-accounting journals and allows to identify topics and areas that could benefit from a greater exchange of ideas between accounting and non-accounting journals.
Originality/value
The authors provide a much needed review of research on the vitally important topic of environmental accounting not only in accounting journals but also in the broader research community.
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Socio-economic, health and environmental turbulences experienced during the past decades have caused major value chain disruptions, triggering multinational enterprises (MNEs) to…
Abstract
Socio-economic, health and environmental turbulences experienced during the past decades have caused major value chain disruptions, triggering multinational enterprises (MNEs) to rethink the footprints of their global operations and redesign for resilience. These developments have fueled a rapidly expanding scholarly literature on resilience. Yet, its conceptual understanding and practical utility remain highly fragmented, cross-disciplinarily disconnected and ambiguous. This study explores the intellectual structure of resilience research in business and management, relying on a systematic literature review approach based on bibliometric techniques and content analysis. A unique database consisting of 545 peer-reviewed articles published in 65 leading Academic Journal Guide (AJG) journals are analyzed. Based on the findings, three leading research communities dominate the resilience discussion in business and management. Moreover, the intellectual structure of the field through the most productive authors and top cited journal articles is discussed. Based on the results, five potential research avenues are suggested.
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Zijun Lin, Chaoqun Ma, Olaf Weber and Yi-Shuai Ren
The purpose of this study is to map the intellectual structure of sustainable finance and accounting (SFA) literature by identifying the influential aspects, main research streams…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to map the intellectual structure of sustainable finance and accounting (SFA) literature by identifying the influential aspects, main research streams and future research directions in SFA.
Design/methodology/approach
The results are obtained using bibliometric citation analysis and content analysis to conduct a bibliometric review of the intersection of sustainable finance and sustainable accounting using a sample of 795 articles published between 1991 and November 2023.
Findings
The most influential factors in the SFA literature are identified, highlighting three primary areas of research: corporate social responsibility and environmental disclosure; financial and economic performance; and regulations and standards.
Practical implications
SFA has experienced rapid development in recent years. The results identify the current research domain, guide potential future research directions, serve as a reference for SFA and provide inspiration to policymakers.
Social implications
SFA typically encompasses sustainable corporate business practices and investments. This study contributes to broader social impacts by promoting improved corporate practices and sustainability.
Originality/value
This study expands on previous research on SFA. The authors identify significant aspects of the SFA literature, such as the most studied nations, leading journals, authors and trending publications. In addition, the authors provide an overview of the three major streams of the SFA literature and propose various potential future research directions, inspiring both academic research and policymaking.
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Martie-Louise Verreynne, Marcus Ho and Martina Linnenluecke
Martina Linnenluecke, Tom Smith and Robert E. Whaley
This paper aims to examine the complex issue of the social cost of carbon. The authors review the existing literature and the strengths and deficiencies of existing approaches…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the complex issue of the social cost of carbon. The authors review the existing literature and the strengths and deficiencies of existing approaches. They introduce a simple methodology that estimates the amount of “legal looting” in the fossil fuel industry as an alternative approach to calculate an unpaid social cost of carbon. The “looting amount” can be defined as society’s failure to charge fossil fuel firms for the damage that their activities cause represents an implied subsidy.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology used in this paper combines decisions in the form of policymakers setting carbon taxes and rational investors investing in carbon emission markets.
Findings
The authors show that the unpaid social cost of carbon in the fossil fuel industry was US$12.7tn over 1995-2013, but may be as high as US$115.5tn.
Originality/value
Over the same period, the sum of industry profits, emission trading scheme carbon permit and carbon tax revenue totalled US$7tn, indicating the industry would not be viable if it was made to pay for damages to society.
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Giulia Leoni, Alessandro Lai, Riccardo Stacchezzini, Ileana Steccolini, Stephen Brammer, Martina Linnenluecke and Istemi Demirag
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the themes emerging from the first studies exploring accounting, accountability and management practices during the COVID-19 pandemic and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the themes emerging from the first studies exploring accounting, accountability and management practices during the COVID-19 pandemic and coming from a diversity of experiences, across countries, organizations and individuals. In so doing, the paper gives an overview of the most recent findings about the role of accounting and accountability in times of crisis that are hosted in this special issue of Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal (AAAJ).
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws together and identifies emerging themes related to the current COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on accounting, accountability and management practices and considers how the studies in this issue extend one’s knowledge of accounting and contribute to accounting research.
Findings
Three emerging themes are drawn and their contribution to accounting scholarship is discussed. The first theme deals with the role of accounting and numbers in supporting governmental responses to COVID-19. The second theme considers accounting practices used to make exceptional decisions at the organizational level in times of crisis. The third theme addresses a relevant frontier of research into accounting and inequalities.
Practical implications
In considering the diverse contributions of this special issue, the paper points out how uncertainty and change can impact the design, use and understanding of accounting, management and accountability practices and can be accepted by scholars and practitioners as part of such practices.
Originality/value
This paper provides a timely and comprehensive picture of the first reflections and research findings on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on one’s interpretation of accounting, accountability and management practices.