Institutional drivers of environmental management accounting adoption in public sector water organisations
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the influences on the adoption of environmental management accounting (EMA) in corporatised water supply organisations, from an institutional theory perspective, drawing on the concepts of reflexive isomorphism and institutional logics. Design/methodol...
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Published in | Accounting, auditing & accountability journal Vol. 32; no. 4; pp. 984 - 1012 |
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Main Authors | , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Bradford
Emerald Publishing Limited
18.06.2019
Emerald Group Publishing Limited |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the influences on the adoption of environmental management accounting (EMA) in corporatised water supply organisations, from an institutional theory perspective, drawing on the concepts of reflexive isomorphism and institutional logics.
Design/methodology/approach
The primary research involves case analysis of three companies in the Australian water supply industry, drawing on interviews, internal documents and publicly available documents, including annual reports.
Findings
Two key drivers for the adoption and emergence of EMA are: the emergence of a government regulator in the form of the Essential Services Commission (ESC) and community expectations with regard to environmental performance and disclosure. The water organisations were found to be reflexively isomorphic, while seeking to align their commercial logic to “sustainability” and “ensuring community expectations” logics to the legitimate adoption of EMA.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the literature by providing case study evidence of the intentions and motivations of management in adopting EMA, and the nature of that adoption process over an extended period. Further, it provides empirical evidence of the applicability of reflexive isomorphism in the context of EMA and institutional logics. |
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ISSN: | 0951-3574 1758-4205 |
DOI: | 10.1108/AAAJ-09-2017-3145 |