Special Issue "Sustainability Accounting and Reporting"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2022.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Dongkuk Lim
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Business Administration Division, Seaver College, Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA 90263, USA
Interests: budgetary accounting; budget ratcheting; qualitative disclosure; risk-related and forward-looking disclosure
Dr. Po-Chang Chen
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Farmer School of Business, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, USA
Interests: financial reporting quality; loan contracting; accounting choices; audit quality; corporate social responsibility
Dr. Che-Wei (Scott) Chiu
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Accounting, Winona State University, Winona, MN 55987, USA
Interests: earnings quality; accrual quality; information transfer; voluntary disclosure; the role of accounting information in the capital market

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainability accounting, also referred to as corporate responsibility (CR) reporting, corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting, or environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting, is the measurement and reporting of an entity’s sustainability-related activities to external stakeholders. Sustainability accounting, in general, focuses on reporting the activities, which have a significant impact on environmental matters, contemporary social issues, the sustainability of resources, and the performance sustainability of an entity. These activities, while inherently industry- and firm-specific, cover a broad spectrum of areas such as environment, employee/community relations, human rights, diversity and inclusion, and controversial product involvement. With the rapid growth of companies’ engagement in sustainability activities around the world, sustainability accounting now serves important roles in corporate disclosures. According to a recent survey by KPMG, ninety-three percent of the 250 largest companies in the world now report on their corporate responsibility activities (refer to KPMG International Survey of Corporate Responsibility Reporting 2017). Nevertheless, the voluntary and non-financial nature of these disclosures creates unique measurement concerns and related reporting issues and it makes sustainability accounting distinct from traditional financial reporting. This Special Issue will provide insights into this fast-growing area of accounting and help improve our understanding of the relevance and reliability of sustainability information contained in corporate disclosures.

Papers are invited to contribute to one or more of the following areas:

  • Analytical framework for sustainability-related disclosures
  • Measurement of sustainability (methods, techniques, indicators, and/or metrics)
  • Determinants of sustainability accounting (e.g., internal and external motivations, information environment, corporate governance)
  • Consequences of sustainability accounting (e.g., financial performance, firm value, cost of capital)
  • The assurance of sustainability disclosures and the profile of assurers
  • Regulations, public policies, and sustainability accounting
  • Sustainability accounting across jurisdictions
  • Interrelationships between sustainability accounting and traditional financial reporting

Dr. Dongkuk Lim
Dr. Po-Chang Chen
Dr. Che-Wei (Scott) Chiu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sustainability accounting
  • corporate responsibility
  • corporate social responsibility
  • environment, social, and governance reporting
  • voluntary disclosures
  • non-financial disclosures
  • assurance of sustainability disclosures
  • regulations and public policies

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

Article
The Relationship of CSR Performance and Voluntary CSR Disclosure Extent in the German DAX Indices
Sustainability 2021, 13(9), 4904; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13094904 - 27 Apr 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 558
Abstract
Empirical studies present mixed evidence on the relationship of CSR performance and CSR disclosure extent, thus spurring academic ambiguity as legitimacy- and voluntary disclosure theory provide competing explanations. By applying content analysis to 144 voluntary GRI reports of listed firms in Germany from [...] Read more.
Empirical studies present mixed evidence on the relationship of CSR performance and CSR disclosure extent, thus spurring academic ambiguity as legitimacy- and voluntary disclosure theory provide competing explanations. By applying content analysis to 144 voluntary GRI reports of listed firms in Germany from 2015 to 2018, I construct environmental and social disclosure indices to capture the reports’ disclosure extents. The contents are extracted from the corresponding GRI content indices in order to mitigate potential coding errors. ESG scores are used as a third-party measure to proxy environmental and social performance. I propose that this approach could be more suitable to address the challenge within the literature concerning methodological heterogeneity. The results show a positive relationship of environmental performance and environmental disclosure, but no relationship of social performance and social disclosure. Hence, there is evidence for an at least partial performance driven reporting behavior as companies seem to signal their superior environmental performance via more extensive disclosure, as predicted by voluntary disclosure theory. This evidence supports the idea of tightening Directive 2014/95/EU. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability Accounting and Reporting)
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Article
True and Fair Override: Accounting Expert Opinions, Explanations from Behavioural Theories, and Discussions for Sustainability Accounting
Sustainability 2021, 13(4), 1928; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13041928 - 11 Feb 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 748
Abstract
This study focuses on true and fair view (TFV) and fair presentation (FP) in financial statements. It questions if attitudes towards the true and fair override (TFO) condition, included in European Union (EU) legislation and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), is indicative of [...] Read more.
This study focuses on true and fair view (TFV) and fair presentation (FP) in financial statements. It questions if attitudes towards the true and fair override (TFO) condition, included in European Union (EU) legislation and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), is indicative of a principles-based approach or lip service to a concept that is rarely applied. We address this subject because we consider that there should be a consensus and harmonisation on TFV—that TFO has a vital role within the principles-based framework, and while the accounting standard development process should limit the application of the TFO concept, in practice, it is an important reporting option. TFV/TFO harmonisation also has an important role in sustainability accounting, to reveal company actions which are influenced by more than just the objective of complying with the standards. In the empirical part, accounting experts from 24 European countries were surveyed. Their responses suggest a lack of clarity around the distinction between TFV and FP and a reluctance to consider, in practice, the application of the TFO. Drawing on behavioural theories—ostrich effect and comfort theory—we find explanations and reasoning behind attitudes to these cornerstone concepts. Specifically, we try to explain behavioural attitudes to TFV/FP and TFO positions, which defend uncompromising compliance with standards. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability Accounting and Reporting)
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