IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pab/wpbsad/08.05.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Sustainability Accounting And Accountability In Public Water Companies

Author

Listed:
  • Carlos Larrinaga-González

    (Department of Business Administration, Universidad de Burgos.)

  • Vicente Pérez-Chamorro

    (Department of Business Administration, Universidad Pablo de Olavide)

Abstract

This paper is the report of a field study of nine public water utilities conducted with the aim of exploring whether distinctive, and more progressive, processes of sustainability accounting and accountability are possible in public sector organisations. The findings suggest the existence of an intense communication activity through reporting media that are different from the conventional stand-alone sustainability reports. Moreover, these disclosures seem to be coupled with real organisational strategies and operational activities.

Suggested Citation

  • Carlos Larrinaga-González & Vicente Pérez-Chamorro, 2008. "Sustainability Accounting And Accountability In Public Water Companies," Working Papers 08.05, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Department of Business Administration.
    • Handle: RePEc:pab:wpbsad:08.05
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.upo.es/serv/bib/wpbsad/bsad0805.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2008
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Manila Marcuccio & Ileana Steccolini, 2005. "Social and environmental reporting in local authorities," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(2), pages 155-176, June.
    2. Velazquez, Esther, 2007. "Water trade in Andalusia. Virtual water: An alternative way to manage water use," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 201-208, June.
    3. Ogden, S. G., 1995. "Transforming frameworks of accountability: The case of water privatization," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 20(2-3), pages 193-218.
    4. Carol A. Adams & Carlos Larrinaga‐González, 2007. "Engaging with organisations in pursuit of improved sustainability accounting and performance," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 20(3), pages 333-355, June.
    5. Rob Gray & Mohammed Javad & David M. Power & C. Donald Sinclair, 2001. "Social and Environmental Disclosure and Corporate Characteristics: A Research Note and Extension," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3-4), pages 327-356.
    6. Helen Tregidga & Markus J. Milne, 2006. "From sustainable management to sustainable development: a longitudinal analysis of a leading New Zealand environmental reporter," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(4), pages 219-241, July.
    7. Rob Gray & Mohammed Javad & David M. Power & C. Donald Sinclair, 2001. "Social and Environmental Disclosure and Corporate Characteristics: A Research Note and Extension," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3‐4), pages 327-356, April.
    8. Carlos Larrinaga & Francisco Carrasco & Carmen Correa & Fernando Llena & Jose Moneva, 2002. "Accountability and accounting regulation: the case of the Spanish environmental disclosure standard," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(4), pages 723-740.
    9. Larrinaga González, Carlos & Carrasco Fenech, Francisco & Correa Ruiz, Carmen & Caro González, Francisco Javier & Páez Sandubete, José María, 1999. "The role of environmental accounting in international change: an exploration of Spanish companies," DEE - Working Papers. Business Economics. WB 6434, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Economía de la Empresa.
    10. Jane Broadbent & James Guthrie, 2008. "Public sector to public services: 20 years of “contextual” accounting research," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 21(2), pages 129-169, February.
    11. Adrian Cashman & Linda Lewis, 2007. "Topping up or watering down? Sustainable development in the privatized UK water industry," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(2), pages 93-105, February.
    12. Jose Moneva & Fernando Llena, 2000. "Environmental disclosures in the annual reports of large companies in Spain," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(1), pages 7-29.
    13. Velazquez, Esther, 2006. "An input-output model of water consumption: Analysing intersectoral water relationships in Andalusia," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 226-240, February.
    14. Geoffrey R. Frost, 2007. "The Introduction of Mandatory Environmental Reporting Guidelines: Australian Evidence," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 43(2), pages 190-216, June.
    15. Jan Bebbington & Carlos Larrinaga & Jose M. Moneva, 2008. "Corporate social reporting and reputation risk management," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 21(3), pages 337-361, March.
    16. Fernando Llena & Jose M. Moneva & Blanca Hernandez, 2007. "Environmental disclosures and compulsory accounting standards: the case of spanish annual reports," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(1), pages 50-63, January.
    17. Lourdes Torres & Vicente Pina, 2001. "Public-private partnership and private finance initiatives in the EU and Spanish local governments," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(3), pages 601-619.
    18. Irene Criado-Jiménez & Manuel Fernández-Chulián & Carlos Larrinaga-González & Francisco Husillos-Carqués, 2008. "Compliance with Mandatory Environmental Reporting in Financial Statements: The Case of Spain (2001–2003)," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 79(3), pages 245-262, May.
    19. Gray, Rob, 2002. "The social accounting project and Accounting Organizations and Society Privileging engagement, imaginings, new accountings and pragmatism over critique?," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 27(7), pages 687-708, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Carol A. Adams & Carlos Larrinaga‐González, 2007. "Engaging with organisations in pursuit of improved sustainability accounting and performance," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 20(3), pages 333-355, June.
    2. Jan Bebbington & Colin Higgins & Bob Frame, 2009. "Initiating sustainable development reporting: evidence from New Zealand," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 22(4), pages 588-625, May.
    3. Parker, Lee D., 2011. "Twenty-one years of social and environmental accountability research: A coming of age," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 1-10.
    4. Cregård Anna & Sobis Iwona, 2017. "Dissemination of Environmental Information and its Effects on Stakeholders’ Decision-Making: A Comparative Study between Swedish and Polish Municipalities," NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy, Sciendo, vol. 10(2), pages 9-47, December.
    5. Veronica P. Lima Ribeiro & Cristina Aibar‐Guzman, 2010. "Determinants of environmental accounting practices in local entities: evidence from Portugal," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 6(3), pages 404-419, August.
    6. Carmela Gulluscio & Pina Puntillo & Valerio Luciani & Donald Huisingh, 2020. "Climate Change Accounting and Reporting: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-31, July.
    7. Thomas A. Tsalis & Ioannis E. Nikolaou & Konstantinos P. Tsagarakis, 2020. "A benchmarking–scoring methodology for assessing the water risk disclosures of water utilities," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(7), pages 6473-6493, October.
    8. Dorothea GREILING & Birgit GRUB, 2015. "Towards Citizen Accountability Of Local Public Enterprises," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 86(4), pages 641-655, December.
    9. Nick Sciulli, 2011. "The views of managers from a local coastal council on sustainability reporting issues," Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 8(2), pages 139-160, June.
    10. Passetti, Emilio & Rinaldi, Leonardo, 2020. "Micro-processes of justification and critique in a water sustainability controversy: Examining the establishment of moral legitimacy through accounting," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(3).
    11. Sandra Escamilla-Solano & Antonio Fernández-Portillo & Jessica Paule-Vianez & Paola Plaza-Casado, 2019. "Effect of the Disclosure of Corporate Social Responsibility on Business Profitability. A Dimensional Analysis in the Spanish Stock Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-17, November.
    12. Silvia Cantele & Thomas A. Tsalis & Ioannis E. Nikolaou, 2018. "A New Framework for Assessing the Sustainability Reporting Disclosure of Water Utilities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-12, February.
    13. Venturelli, Andrea & Ligorio, Lorenzo & de Nuccio, Elbano, 2023. "Biodiversity accountability in water utilities: A case study," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    14. Escamilla Solano, Sandra & Plaza Casado, Paola & Flores Ureba, Sandra, 2016. "Análisis de la divulgación de la información sobre la responsabilidad social corporativa en las empresas de transporte público urbano en España," Revista de Contabilidad - Spanish Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 195-203.
    15. Jan Bebbington & Carlos Larrinaga‐González & Jose M. Moneva‐Abadía, 2008. "Legitimating reputation/the reputation of legitimacy theory," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 21(3), pages 371-374, March.
    16. Carol A. Adams & Glen Whelan, 2009. "Conceptualising future change in corporate sustainability reporting," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 22(1), pages 118-143, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jan Bebbington & Colin Higgins & Bob Frame, 2009. "Initiating sustainable development reporting: evidence from New Zealand," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 22(4), pages 588-625, May.
    2. Sónia Maria da Silva Monteiro & Beatriz Aibar‐Guzmán, 2010. "Determinants of environmental disclosure in the annual reports of large companies operating in Portugal," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(4), pages 185-204, July.
    3. Higgins, Colin & Walker, Robyn, 2012. "Ethos, logos, pathos: Strategies of persuasion in social/environmental reports," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 194-208.
    4. Beck, A. Cornelia & Campbell, David & Shrives, Philip J., 2010. "Content analysis in environmental reporting research: Enrichment and rehearsal of the method in a British–German context," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 207-222.
    5. Fernando Llena & Jose M. Moneva & Blanca Hernandez, 2007. "Environmental disclosures and compulsory accounting standards: the case of spanish annual reports," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(1), pages 50-63, January.
    6. Esben Rahbek Gjerdrum Pedersen & Peter Neergaard & Janni Thusgaard Pedersen & Wencke Gwozdz, 2013. "Conformance and Deviance: Company Responses to Institutional Pressures for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(6), pages 357-373, September.
    7. Jennifer Martínez‐Ferrero & Isabel M. Garcia‐Sanchez & Beatriz Cuadrado‐Ballesteros, 2015. "Effect of Financial Reporting Quality on Sustainability Information Disclosure," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 22(1), pages 45-64, January.
    8. Cecília Carmo & Cristiana Ribeiro, 2022. "Mandatory Non-Financial Information Disclosure under European Directive 95/2014/EU: Evidence from Portuguese Listed Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-23, April.
    9. Dolores Gallardo-Vázquez & María J. Barroso-Méndez & María L. Pajuelo-Moreno & Julio Sánchez-Meca, 2019. "Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure and Performance: A Meta-Analytic Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-33, February.
    10. Waymond Rodgers & Mouza Al Habsi & George Gamble, 2019. "Sustainability and Firm Performance: A Review and Analysis Using Algorithmic Pathways in the Throughput Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-27, July.
    11. Thoradeniya, Prabanga & Lee, Janet & Tan, Rebecca & Ferreira, Aldónio, 2022. "From intention to action on sustainability reporting: The role of individual, organisational and institutional factors during war and post-war periods," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(1).
    12. Giovanna Michelon, 2007. "Sustainability disclosure and reputation: a comparative study," "Marco Fanno" Working Papers 0044, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche "Marco Fanno".
    13. Teresa Eugénio & Isabel Costa Lourenço & Ana Isabel Morais, 2010. "Recent developments in social and environmental accounting research," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 6(2), pages 286-305, June.
    14. Florence Depoers & Tiphaine Jérôme, 2017. "Environmental expenditure disclosure strategies in a regulated context [Stratégies de publication des dépenses environnementales dans un cadre réglementaire]," Post-Print hal-01576195, HAL.
    15. Maryna Gulenko, 2018. "Mandatory CSR reporting—literature review and future developments in Germany [Nichtfinanzielle Berichterstattungspflicht – Literaturzusammenfassung und Mögliche Entwicklungen in Deutschland]," NachhaltigkeitsManagementForum | Sustainability Management Forum, Springer, vol. 26(1), pages 3-17, December.
    16. Radhakrishnan, Suresh & Tsang, Albert & Liu, Rubing, 2018. "A Corporate Social Responsibility Framework for Accounting Research," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 53(4), pages 274-294.
    17. Bebbington, Jan & Kirk, Elizabeth A. & Larrinaga, Carlos, 2012. "The production of normativity: A comparison of reporting regimes in Spain and the UK," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 78-94.
    18. Parvez Mia & Tarek Rana & Lutfa Tilat Ferdous, 2021. "Government Reform, Regulatory Change and Carbon Disclosure: Evidence from Australia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-17, November.
    19. Parker, Lee D., 2011. "Twenty-one years of social and environmental accountability research: A coming of age," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 1-10.
    20. Patricia Milanés Montero & Esteban Pérez Calderón & Ana Isabel Lourenço Dias, 2020. "Transparency of Financial Reporting on Greenhouse Gas Emission Allowances: The Influence of Regulation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-25, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pab:wpbsad:08.05. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Publicación Digital - UPO (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dbupoes.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.