Framing Of Climate Change Impacts And Use Of Management Accounting Practices

This study examines (i) how companies perceive climate change impacts in terms of opportunities or threats and the reasons for these perceptions, and (ii) use of management accounting practices to manage carbon emissions and the relationship between climate change perceptions and accounting use. The sample consists of Australian companies that participated in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) 2009 survey. We fnd that how climate change impacts are framed (as threat or opportunity) influences the use of planning and target setting, performance measurement and incentivisation in managing emissions. However, in general, use of accounting practices in managing carbon emissions is limited

Use of Management Accounting Practices in Carbon Emission Management: Evidence from Australian Companies

  This study examines the use of management accounting practices by companies in managing carbon emission issues. The sample consists of 69 Australian companies that participated in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) 2009 survey. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses of survey responses are conducted. In this investigation, relative absence of the use of accounting practices was uncovered. Given that the companies examined were large companies and the majority of them operated in carbon intensive or climate change exposed sectors, it is likely that this under-utilisation of accounting practices translates into a corresponding under-performance in carbon emission management. Acknowledgement: This paper is drawn from Kumarasiri’ s (2015) unpublished PhD thesis

Framing of climate change impacts and use of accounting techniques in emissions management

Abstract not available

Auditors' perceptions of fair-value accounting: developing country evidence

The past decade has witnessed a profound shift in the financial accounting measurement paradigm towards FVA. The transition to FVA has given rise to a range of challenges for financial statement auditors, particularly for those in developing nations. Given a dearth of corresponding empirical research, either in developed or developing nation contexts, the current study sought to explore the issues and challenges confronting auditors in developing countries. Based on a survey of 156 practicing auditors in Sri Lanka, the study gathered evidence on the views of auditors regarding the usefulness of FVA, the issues and challenges associated with the auditing such information, particularly within a developing country context, and their views on potential strategies to mitigate these concerns. The relationship between auditors' awareness of FVA and perceived auditing challenges was also examined, together with the linkage between audit challenges and the perceived usefulness of fair value information. The study found that Sri Lankan auditors were generally supportive of the decision usefulness of FVA, although they perceived specific auditing issues with its implementation in developing countries. These issues included: lack of technical knowledge, the prevalence of inactive markets in developing countries, difficulties associated with the variation in techniques used to ascertain fair values across different industries, general complexities in ascertaining fair values, and the incorporation of future events and conditions into valuations. The provision of adequate training and technical guidance were viewed as the primary means of mitigating these concerns. The study concludes with a number of potential avenues for future research

The influence of blockownership level and identity on board composition:evidence from the New Zealand market

This article explores the relationship between the level and identity of the largest equity blockholding and the proportion of outside directors on the boards of New Zealand corporations between 2002 and 2007, using models that allow for nonlinearity in the relationship as well as interaction between the two exploratory variables. New Zealand provides a unique governance setting for the study, with significant blockholder presence and an inactive (relative to other developed countries) market for corporate control co-existing with a high number of outside directors. The evidence suggests that the proportion of outside directors on New Zealand boards is related to both the level of ownership and identity of the largest blockholder, with the latter influence dominating the former. The evidence regarding blockholder identity suggests that the number of outside directors is likely to be greatest when the stakeholder is governmental or corporate in nature