Exploring Sustainability Discourse in Accounting: A Literature Analysis

Abstract

AbstractThe relationship between sustainability and accounting has been continuously discussed in the academic literature over the last three decades. From a sustainability perspective, the accounting discipline must play a major role in the measurement, reporting, and auditing of sustainability performance. The aim of this study is to explore the discourse on sustainability and its performance in the accounting field. For this purpose, we selected articles from 3, 4, and 4* accounting journals and analysed the sustainability trend with each sustainability dimension, both separately and jointly. Based on our analysis, findings suggest that environmental sustainability is more discussed than economic and social sustainability in the accounting field. By examining sustainability performance management, we found that accounting and auditing have been highly emphasized in top accounting journals as compared to auditing. The aspect of reporting covers social, economic, and environmental sustainability equally. As regards accounting, on the other hand, higher attention is given to environmental sustainability compared to social and economic sustainability. Assurance has been found to be an emerging topic in the accounting field. With the limitations of the current study, we proposed a bibliometric analysis in order to capture the large dataset and generalization of the discourse on accounting and sustainability in the accounting field.KeywordsSustainabilityAccountingSustainability performance managementTaxonomy