The influence of the Portuguese environmental accounting standard on the environmental disclosures in the annual reports of large companies operating in Portugal

2010 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 414-435 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sónia Maria da Silva Monteiro ◽  
Beatriz Aibar Guzmán
2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Grant Samkin ◽  
Christa Wingard

PurposeThis uses a framework of systemic change to understand the contextual factors including stakeholder, social, political, cultural and economic, which contribute to the social and environmental narratives of a conservation organisation that has and continues to undergo transformation.Design/methodology/approachThe social and environmental disclosure annual report narratives for a 27-year period were coded to a framework of systemic change.FindingsThe end of apartheid in 1994 meant that South African society required transformation. This transformation impacts and drives the social and environmental accounting disclosures made by SANParks. The social and environmental disclosures coded against a framework of systemic change, fluctuated over the period of the study as the format of the annual reports changed. The systems view was the most frequently disclosed category. The political ecology subcategory which details the power relationships showed the most disclosures. However, 25 years after the end of apartheid, the transformation process remains incomplete. Although the evidence in the paper does not support Joseph and Reigelut (2010) contention that the framework of systemic change is an iterative process, it nevertheless provides a useful vehicle for analysing the rich annual report narratives of an organisation that has undergone and continues to undergo transformation.Originality/valueThis paper makes two primary contributions. First, to the limited developing country social and environmental accounting literature. Second, the development, refinement and application of a framework of systemic change to social and environmental disclosures.


2002 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hussein Warsame ◽  
Cynthia V. Simmons ◽  
Dean Neu

In this study we consider how a discrediting event such as an environmental fine influences the quality of environmental disclosures in subsequent annual reports. Starting from prior work in the areas of impression management along with environmental and social responsibility disclosures, we propose that environmental disclosures provide organizations with a method of “managing” such discrediting events. Using a matched-pair sample of publicly traded Canadian companies that have been subject to environmental fines and those that have not; we analyze changes in pre-fine and post-fine environmental disclosure quality. After controlling for firm-specific characteristics, the provided results are consistent with this explanation.


2009 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 394-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pamela Kent ◽  
Christopher Chan

Ullmann’s (1985) three-dimensional model of social responsibility disclosure is tested to determine whether it can be operationalized to help explain the quantity and quality of environmental disclosures in Australian annual reports. The stakeholder power dimension of Ullmann’s framework is significant in explaining environmental disclosures while content of the mission statement and existence or otherwise of environmental or social responsibility committees also find strong statistically significant support in the results. Ullmanns’ stakeholder theory has previously been applied to explain social disclosures in general (Roberts, 1992) and is an important theory because it introduces a measure of strategy. The current paper demonstrates how this theory can be applied to a specific social disclosure using variables that are idiosyncratically applicable to the types of disclosures.


2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 400-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Odhiambo Odera ◽  
Albert Scott ◽  
Jeff Gow

Purpose This study seeks to examine the quantity and quality of social and environmental disclosures (SEDs) of Nigerian oil companies. The study aims to analyse SED activities as reported by the oil companies in their annual reports. Design/methodology/approach The study analyses annual reports through content analysis. SED quantity is measured by alternative two units: number of sentences and number of pages. A two-point scale system to assess SED quality is used as follows: 1 = if SED is quantitative and reports specific activities of a company concerning its social and environmental responsibility; 0 = otherwise. Correlation analysis is performed among the different SED categories to identify the relationships among them. Kolmongrov–Smirnov and Shapiro–Wilk tests for normality are utilised. Findings SED activities are reported by most of the companies, and by quantity, employee information is found to be the most common type of disclosure. SED quantity and quality in the environment category is found to be overwhelmingly low despite the large-scale public concern expressed about the levels of the environmental degradation caused by oil company operations. Research limitations/implications The data collected for this study are based on one country, which controls diversity but limits the generalizability of the findings. The study is limited by the sample which includes mainly quoted companies, as they are believed to make improved disclosures because of their investor orientation and statutory obligations. Originality/value The study extends SED research by focusing on social disclosures such as employee-, community- and health- and safety-related disclosures. The study also investigates the motivations of SED providers and establishes a link between stakeholder demands/engagement and the level of disclosure.


1996 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 293-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
George O. Gamble ◽  
Kathy Hsu ◽  
Cynthia Jackson ◽  
Cynthia D. Tollerson

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deon Scott ◽  
Christa Wingard ◽  
Marilene Van Biljon

Fair value accounting of biological assets in the public sector was introduced with the adoption of the public-sector-specific accounting standard: Generally Recognised Accounting Practice (GRAP) 101. The public sector currently reports on various bases of accounting. Public entities and municipalities report in terms of accrual accounting, and government departments report on the modified cash basis. The lack of a uniform basis of accounting impedes the comparability of financial information. The implementation of GRAP 101 in the public sector is important in facilitating comparability of financial information regarding biological assets. This paper is based on a content analysis of the annual reports of 10 relevant public entities in South Africa and specifically details the challenges that public entities encounter with the application of GRAP 101. These challenges, and how they were addressed by a public entity that adopted and applied GRAP 101, namely the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative South Africa – Eastern Cape (AsgiSA-EC), are documented in this research.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document