The Moderating Role of Digital Environmental Management Accounting in the Relationship between Eco-Efficiency and Corporate Sustainability

Abstract

In response to concerns about environmental issues and the role of manufacturing corporations in maintaining eco-efficiency, this study aimed to investigate the moderating role of digitally supported environmental management accounting (EMA) in the relationship between eco-efficiency and corporate sustainability performance. A quantitative approach was applied by using a survey distributed to a sample consisting of 77 individuals from senior and executive financial and operational positions in large Saudi manufacturing corporations. The findings of the linear regression analysis revealed that there is an insignificant direct relationship between eco-efficiency and corporate sustainability performance, while there is a significant moderating impact of EMA on the linkage between eco-efficiency and corporate environmental sustainability, and this significant moderating impact also applied to the linkage between digital applications and corporate environmental sustainability. This study provides good insights into the domain of environmental sustainability performance on the business scale in the Saudi context as an emerging economy, as it could be considered an innovative contribution to theoretical and practical aspects in the recent green issue adoption context; theoretically, it provides additional evidence of the role of digital EMA in improving environmental sustainability performance, and practically, the study findings can be beneficial for strategy and policymakers in corporations and regulators of environmental sustainability performance.