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Article
Publication date: 4 August 2021

Binh Bui, Mohamed Chelli and Muhammad Nurul Houqe

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of climate change rating organisations on rated firms, to understand whether disclosure ratings can facilitate enhanced…

606

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of climate change rating organisations on rated firms, to understand whether disclosure ratings can facilitate enhanced emissions performance.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses 1,848 cross-country firm-year observations from organisations that responded to the carbon disclosure project (the rater) between 2011 and 2015 and, hence, were rated for their disclosure. Drawing on the ideology of numbers, this paper hypothesises that the disciplinary power of ratings will result in rated firms improving their subsequent disclosure scores. Following the environmentally-friendly ideology, this study hypothesises that poorly-rated firms will adopt decoupling behaviour, by improving their climate change disclosure scores without reducing the intensity of their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Findings

The results indicate that climate change disclosure ratings pressure poorly-rated firms to improve their disclosure scores in subsequent years, yet these firms are not inclined to lower their GHG emissions. Further, the direct publication of firms’ GHG emissions intensity can exert some restricted disciplinary impact on rated firms, as the more polluting firms tend to improve their subsequent climate change performance compared with those having lower emissions levels.

Practical implications

This paper argues that the ability of corporate sustainability rating schemes to influence corporate behaviour comprehensively is limited and should be used with caution.

Originality/value

This paper sheds new light on the ideological dynamics at play between the rater and the rated, while highlighting new aspects of the power-rating nexus in the climate change arena.

Details

Meditari Accountancy Research, vol. 30 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2049-372X

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Article
Publication date: 14 May 2019

Mohamed Chelli, Sylvain Durocher and Anne Fortin

The purpose of this paper is to longitudinally explore the symbolic and substantive ideological strategies located in ENGIE’s environmental discourse while considering the…

1234

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to longitudinally explore the symbolic and substantive ideological strategies located in ENGIE’s environmental discourse while considering the specific negative media context surrounding the company’s environmental activities.

Design/methodology/approach

Thompson’s (2007) and Eagleton’s (2007) theorizations are used to build an extended ideological framework to analyze ENGIE’s environmental talk from 2001 to 2015.

Findings

ENGIE drew extensively on a combination of symbolic and substantive ideological strategies in its annual and sustainability reports while ignoring several major issues raised in the press. Its substantive ideological mode of operation included actions for the environment, innovation, partnerships and educating stakeholders/staff, while its symbolic ideological mode of operation used issue identification, legal compliance, rationalization, stakeholders’ responsibilization and unification. Both ideological modes of operation worked synergistically to cast a positive light on ENGIE’s environmental activities, sustaining the ideology of a company that reconciles the irreconcilable despite negative press coverage.

Originality/value

This paper develops the notion of environmentally friendly ideology to analyze the environmental discourse of a polluting company. It is the first to use both Thompson’s and Eagleton’s ideological frameworks to make sense of corporate environmental discourse. Linking corporate discourse with media coverage, it further contributes to the burgeoning literature that interpretively distinguishes between symbolic and substantive ideological strategies by highlighting the company’s progressive shift from symbolic to more substantive disclosure.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 32 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

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Article
Publication date: 7 February 2014

Mohamed Chelli, Sylvain Durocher and Jacques Richard

The paper seeks to adopt an institutional view of legitimacy to examine how a sample of French companies reacted to the introduction of the “New Economic Regulations” in French…

4775

Abstract

Purpose

The paper seeks to adopt an institutional view of legitimacy to examine how a sample of French companies reacted to the introduction of the “New Economic Regulations” in French law in 2001 requiring that publicly listed companies disclose environmental information.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach used in the paper is both quantitative and qualitative. A content analysis of environmental disclosure provided in annual reports, environmental reports and web sites by 26 French companies listed in the CAC 40 is performed throughout the period 2001-2011.

Findings

The findings of this study show a significant and enduring improvement in the quality and quantity of environmental disclosure from 2001 to 2011. Even in the absence of penalties for non-compliance, the NRE law stimulated a stark and positive lasting change in the way that French companies account for their environmental information. These findings are consistent with the institutional view of legitimacy theory whereby legislation provides corporate managers with a representation of relevant audiences' perceptions about social and environmental reporting, prompting them to comply with the law to ensure organizational legitimacy.

Originality/value

Social and environmental reporting studies generally adopt a strategic view of legitimacy to examine how organizations use social and environmental reporting to respond strategically to legitimacy threats. This study provides early empirical evidence about the relevance of institutional legitimacy theory in explaining environmental reporting.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 27 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Available. Content available
Article
Publication date: 29 April 2014

169

Abstract

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 27 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

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Article
Publication date: 21 October 2020

Ana Fialho, Ana Morais and Rosalina Pisco Costa

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the introduction of water security, in 2015, as a category in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) Climate A-List, increases the…

605

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the introduction of water security, in 2015, as a category in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) Climate A-List, increases the use of impression management (IM) strategies. The purpose is to analyze how companies reacted to programmes of voluntary disclosure of environmental information.

Design/methodology/approach

Mixed-methods research was developed, combining a qualitative and quantitative approach. This study first used a qualitative content analysis of 15 companies’ reports, from the materials sector, which was scored in the CDP Climate A-List, in 2017, to identify the IM strategies adopted. Next, this study conducted a quantitative analysis to test the mean differences of water references between years, industry and region.

Findings

Three types of IM strategies are identified (justification and commitment, self-promotion and authorization). The references identified as self-promotion strategy increased in 2016. This indicates companies reacted to the programmes for voluntary disclosure of environmental information by increasing strategies of legitimization and image promotion.

Research limitations/implications

Further research can be developed, focusing only on sustainability reports and extending the number of companies, the period and sectors under analysis.

Originality/value

This paper shows how the inclusion of a topic such as water security in an environmental ranking of companies, namely, CDP A-List, affects the use of IM strategies in voluntary disclosures.

Details

Meditari Accountancy Research, vol. 29 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2049-372X

Keywords

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Article
Publication date: 17 August 2021

Jittima Wichianrak, Karen Wong, Tehmina Khan, Pavithra Siriwardhane and Steven Dellaportas

This study aims to examine the impact of soft law and institutional signalling on voluntary reporting of environmentally sensitive companies in Thailand.

369

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine the impact of soft law and institutional signalling on voluntary reporting of environmentally sensitive companies in Thailand.

Design/methodology/approach

Environmental disclosures in annual reports and sustainability reports of 108 listed companies for the years 2010–2014 were analysed using a checklist of un-weighted scores combined with panel data modelling.

Findings

The results show increasing trends of voluntary reporting dominated by disclosures on emissions data. Thai sustainability reporting guidelines released in 2012 were found to have a significant effect on the amount of disclosures of companies in the agriculture and food sector only. Results show that the age of the company and media attention have a significant positive relationship with environmental disclosures. Profitability is found to have a negative relationship with the level of environmental disclosures.

Research limitations/implications

This study adds to existing environmental reporting literature from the perspective of soft law and institutional signalling and their impact on environmental reporting in the context of an economically developing, environmentally sensitive and in a Buddhist cultural setting country, Thailand.

Originality/value

This paper looks at Thai environmental disclosures from the perspective of soft law and institutional signalling, which is an original and unique contribution to CSR literature, considered through the lens of institutional legitimacy.

Details

Social Responsibility Journal, vol. 18 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-1117

Keywords

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Article
Publication date: 23 April 2019

Samuel Kwaku Agyei and Benjamin Yankey

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.

840

Abstract

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.

Details

Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies, vol. 9 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-1168

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