Environmental Accounting Audit Decision and Firm Performance： An Empirical Investigation

The objective of the study is to examine the relationship between environmental accounting audit decision and firm＇s profitability in Nigeria. Specifically, the authors hypothesize that profitability is a determinant of company＇s decision to disclose quantitative environmental information for external audits. The population of this research is made up of both quoted and non-quoted companies. The sample size for this study was selected using the simple random sampling technique. The selected companies included companies from the following sectors： agriculture, automobile and tyre, breweries, building materials, chemical and paints, conglomerates companies, food/beverages and tobacco, construction, healthcare, industrial/domestic products, packaging, printing and publishing, textiles, petroleum marketing companies, banking, insurance, and others. A sample of 160 companies with audited final accounts for 2009 financial year was eventually selected. The binary logit regression technique was utilized as the data analysis method. The finding reveals that profitability is a positive and significant determinant in evaluating the probability that a firm includes environmental information for external audits. The study concludes that finn-specific factors may provide incentives for corporate environmentalism in Nigeria.

Environmental Accounting in the Context of Environmental Information： Case Study of a Reforestation Company in Campo Belo do Sul City, Santa Catarina State, Brazil

In Brazil, environmental accounting is inserted in a set of emerging matters, which are arousing great interest among researchers. One of the important points regarding the environmental issue is how to develop tools in order to analyze and manage the natural resources in a balanced way. However, in the literature there are no studies that made use of a knowledge-based approach to implement environmental accounting in organizations. This work aims to examine how environmental accounting can contribute to the knowledge creation in organizations. It held an exploratory, descriptive study and a research-action. The methodological procedures held were： literature review and development of a research-action in a forest enterprise between October 2008 and January 2011. During the interviews, the creation and change of routines and activities was pointed out, such as classification of expenditures schedules, creation of new accounts and new knowledge which help the planning and decision-making process in the organization. This work has an original character due to the practical application within an organization, in which there is a longitudinal follow up for a period of two years and three months, showing the results obtained through interviews with people involved in this process of implementing environmental accounting.

Research on environmental accounting information disclosure for thermal power enterprises in China： Current situation, countermeasure and implement way

Along with the unceasing expansion of the human society production and the economic activity scale, the influence and harm of the social economy to the global environment is more and more serious. As one of the high-polluting industries in China, the environment problems of the thermal power enterprises attract attention from the country and society. It is crucial for the country to improve the laws and regulations about the disclosure of environmental accounting information gradually, and the thermal power enterprises should also disclose more valuable environmental accounting information to the public. This paper analyzes and elaborates the current situation, countermeasure and implement way of the environmental accounting information disclosure systematically.

Accounting Framework to Measure the Environmental Costs and Disclosed in Industrials Companies Case Study of Societe Cement Hamma Bouziane （SCHB） in Constantine

Accounting, being an integrated information system, is not merely influenced by its environment, but also affects environment as well, due to its crucial role in generating the necessary information to decision-makers. It has two main pillars： measuring and declaring the costs that result from the activities of companies, especially industrial companies because they affect the environment. Therefore, the objective of this research is to investigate how well industrial companies are committed to measuring their environmental duties and declaring them in their balance sheets. This topic will be developed over two parts： scientific basis of environmental costs and accounting; environmental measuring and disclosure.

Exploring the Vietnamese Environment Accounting With an Introduction About the Green Accounting Information System

Environment is one of the significant factors to the people and our life, because it is fundamentally joined to everything we require for human beings to subsist. Many fields in the society are influenced by the environment. For these reasons, the Vietnamese government issued the Law on Environmental Protection Tax in 2010 to prove this essential matter. Therefore, the organizations have utilized their tools to record the related transactions into the journals for taking an interest in the nature conditions for substantial development. Based on the accounting aspects, Vietnam has no theories about the environment accounting. Hence, this article will provide some basic information and a general picture of the green accounting information system in the environmental condition. Moreover, this paper will analyze the relationship between the environment and company＇s output by applying the environmental management system （EMS） in the accounting system. However, this paper only provides the overall contents about the environment accounting in Vietnam and this limitation will present this problem for further articles.

Linking Accounting/Auditing Environment and the Remittances of Africans in Diaspora

This paper investigates empirically the link between the inflow of Diasporas remittances and the environment of accounting/auditing in 10 African countries. The result using Spearman＇s rank correlation indicates the existence of a positive relationship （correlation coefficient rs is 0.36）, but the strength of the relationship is weak （significant level of 0.05）. The quality of accounting and auditing as represented by their environment is a stimulus that could enhance the inflow of Diasporas remittances. The study therefore recommends that African countries should strategically and proactively refocus attention on developing accounting/auditing environment in order to attract reasonable volume of remittances.

Research on the Status of China＇s Environmental Accounting

Despite the worldwide environmental accounting research has been going on for a very long time, but so far, China＇s research on environmental accounting is still in its infancy, and hasn＇t not form a complete, scientific, feasible accounting system. This article describes the basic theory of environmental accounting, the current situation and problems of the development of China＇s environment accounting, analyzes the causes, finally, put forward some suggestions on the development of China＇s environmental accounting.

Environmental accounting: Theoretical review and research prospects

This paper is based on the ecological and harmonious development concept of ecological civilization, and combines economic development, environmental governance and accounting research as the basis for the development of environmental accounting theory. In order to analyze the relevant theories of environmental accounting development at home and abroad, we use the historical measurement research and hierarchical division methods to systematiccally review the theoretical literatures and research progress. It is concluded that:(1) The development of foreign environmental accounting focuses on the formulation of industry norms, the interpretation of regulations and policies, and the organization of the overall structural framework. Relevant environmental costs, environmental accounting, uncertainties and environmental accounting information disclosure throughout the study of Western environmental accounting. The theory is applied to practice and tested in the free market.(2) Domestic related research is mostly based on comprehensive considerations. It started late. Although the overall environmental accounting framework is basically formed and related laws and regulations are gradually improved, there are still some: the environmental accounting subsystem is not clear, and the accounting standards are not unified. Through the combing of domestic and international environmental accounting theories and combining with China's actual national conditions, this paper proposes that in the field of environmental accounting, China needs to further improve relevant legal norms, improve the environmental accounting theory system, clarify the field of environmental accounting research, and determine environmental accounting requirements and methods.

Research on Environmental Accounting Information Disclosure of Listed Company under Low Carbon Economy

Since entering into the new century,domestic society develops rapidly,a variety of advanced ideas are constantly introduced into our country,the awakening of people’s ideology also makes the society develop greatly.Low carbon economy is a new economic concept,which is the need of achieving sustainable development of society,and the requirements of the times.With the development of economy,more and more domestic listed companies appear.In listed companies,there are still many problems and shortcomings in the disclosure of environmental accounting information,which need improving constantly.This paper mainly studies the problems of environmental accounting information disclosure of listed companies in low carbon economy,and puts forward some specific suggestions and measures,to promote the development of listed companies.

Study on the environmental information disclosure of Chinese forestry enterprises

Environmental accounting is a kind of accounting which focuses on the compensation for the resources spending. It combines the theories of environmental economics and traditional accounting and uses scientific as well as systematic ways to coordinate the development of economics and the protection of environment. It is just in the primary process for forestry enterprises in China to introduce the research and practice of environmental accounting. Based on discussion about the principle of environmental information disclosure and analysis on the current situation of the environmental information disclosure of the forestry enterprises, this paper attempted to propose that the supplementary report mode of information disclosure should be appropriate for the forestry enterprises, which provide the balance sheet of environment, the income statement of environment besides the original three financial report to reflect the general environmental information of the enterprise.

An analysis on the connotation and necessity for ecological accounting

With mankind＇s paying more attention to eco-environment, traditional accounting has not been adapted itself to the implementation of eco-economy management activities. Therefore, it is necessary and inevitable for ecological accounting to enter into the research field of accounting. The article comprehensively researches the identification and interpretation of connotation for ecological accounting and the necessity of implementing ecological accounting in China.

Enhancing Sustainability in Forestry Using Material Flow Cost Accounting

Forestry is an applied science related to the sustainable management of natural resources. Many scientific disciplines influence forest science including ecology, economics and other social sciences. In this paper, it is proposed to promote the sustainable management of forest resources using a method coming from the Environmental Management Accounting discipline. The method is Material Flow Cost Accounting, which assists managers to recognize material and energy inefficiencies in production processes and create cost savings for the organization. Through a study of the methodology and using forestry examples, it is shown that Material Flow Cost Accounting can be a useful tool for forest managers, either in Public Forest Service, or other forestry organizations.

Corporate Risk Strategic Management and Probabilistic Analysis Related to Environmental Liabilities: A Case Study

Environmental stewardship is one of the main indicators of corporate performance and reputation among investors today. However, historical operational practices and accidents have created significant environmental liabilities in the industrial sector, and now require significant investments for appropriate management and resolution. A strategic approach is imperative to assure that company’s financial resources are effectively allocated, and shareholders’ interests are protected. In addition, these liabilities must be appropriately and continuously reported, which require the use of robust forecasting techniques such as Monte Carlo Simulation. The present study results demonstrate that under an optimized strategic approach, liability management costs may be reduced in approximately 50%. In addition, the financial forecast under the selected approach may support appropriate reporting of company’s liabilities.

Implementing Sustainability Reporting （SR）： （Neo-） Institutional Theory Insights in the Analysis of the SGR Group, Italy and CityGas, Bulgaria

The aim of this paper is to investigate how the corporate characteristics and contextual factors influence the choice of managers in initiating the sustainability report/reporting （SR） and to understand the role of organisational dynamics. The research design develops through a deductive and inductive approach. The deductive approach is based on an analysis of the Social and Environmental Accounting Research （SEAR） strands which use the theoretical framework of （neo-） institutional theory to inquire the adoption and diffusion of SR. The inductive method is based on a research case that focuses on the SGR Group. ＂How can the rico-institutional theory help explain the process of SGR＇s SR implementation in Italian and Bulgarian companies＂？ The study identifies both the internal and contextual factors associated with the SR development and the regulative, normative, and cognitive dimensions/factors that affect the implementation and institutionalisation of SR in Italy and Bulgaria, in accordance with the different institutional environments in which the social and sustainability accounting projects are developed.

Extending the production boundary of the System of National Accounts (SNA) to classify and account for ecosystem services

There is a broad acceptance to depicting the relationship between ecosystems and human well-being using the concept of ecosystem services,emanating in large from the findings and research published in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment in 2005.While the generic concept of ecosystem services provides an excellent platform for discussion,the ongoing lack of clarity surrounding the definition,clas sification and measurement of ecosystem services,is emerging as a barrier to more extensive collaboration across disciplines.This paper applies the principles of national accounting to bring additional rigor and consistency to the discussion on ecosystem services.In this paper we revisit four fundamental aspects of the System of National Accounts(SNA)that underpin the measurement of the economy,namely,the definition of economic units;the definition of production;the recording of transactions and the recording assets.By considering each of these aspects in the context of the United Nations'System of Environmental-Economic Accounting,the paper presents a framework to describe the relationship between ecosystems and human aativity that can then be used to consistently define,classify,measure and account for ecosystem services.

The case for mandatory inclusion of ethics within the zoological sciences curriculum

Traditionally,undergraduate science curricula include little or no“ethics,”either as theory or practice.However,zoologists are currently enjoying considerable media exposure:some of it positive(as in conservation practice),but more often negative(pertaining to issues such as the use of animals for testing of drugs,and genetic engineering).More than ever before,zoologists are being asked to make value judgments,and many of these involve moral assessment;if we accept that zoologists(along with other scientists)are professionals,then we must accept that they are responsible for any decisions they make,and it then follows that they are accountable,which can have serious ramifications in cases of malpractice.Ethics involves the application of morality in a professional setting.In light of this,teaching ethics is mandatory in degree programs such as engineering and medicine.This paper contends that a key output of zoological education is the undergraduate who is cognizant of the ethical framework and constructs within which he/she must function.The paper concludes with comment on the nature and style of delivery of ethics education.