Social Accounting Research Articles

EXAMINING THE TREND, THEMES, AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF THE ISLAMIC ACCOUNTING USING A BIBLIOMETRIC APPROACH

This study focuses on bibliometric indicators of Islamic accounting research development, such as trends in Islamic accounting research and its distribution, topics and themes in Islamic accounting research, significant contributors to Islamic accounting research, the pattern of collaboration in Islamic accounting research, and the most significant texts in the Islamic accounting literature. Four hundred eighty-three pieces of scientific literature were entered into the Scopus database for bibliometric analysis on January 10, 2022. Various programs were used to analyze frequency, metrics, and citations, including Microsoft Excel, VOS viewer, and Harzing's Publish or Perish. Over the last ten years, Islamic accounting publications have grown significantly and steadily. Islamic accounting literature is based in Asia, Europe, America, and the Middle East, and it can be found in social science, business, management, accounting, economics, and finance. With a few exceptions in Malaysian, Arabic, German, Indonesian, Slovak, and Turkish, the majority of Islamic accounting literature is written in English. The study also discovered that terms like Islamic bank, banking, Islamic performance, Islamic accounting standards, and Islamic finance are commonly used. The seven countries that contributed the most to the development of scholarly collaborations in Islamic accounting were Malaysia, Indonesia, the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, and Australia. This is critical in assisting academics in making recommendations for future study in the field of Islamic accounting.

Addressing the COVID-19 Shock: The Potential Job Creation in China by the RCEP

In 2020, coronavirus disease (COVID-19) left around 81% of the global workforce, nearly 2.7 billion workers, affected. Employment in China was the first to be hit by COVID-19. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is expected to bring dynamism to China's employment market in an era of long COVID-19. This study aims to examine the number of sectoral jobs that the RCEP will create in China, with the number of skilled or unskilled labour employed in each sector. The exogenous shocks to the RCEP can be reflected in the number of jobs created through multipliers based on a social accounting matrix compiled from China's input-output tables in 2017, combined with the employment satellite accounts compiled. The results show that the RCEP is expected to create over 17 million potential jobs in China, with unskilled labour accounting for 10.44 million and skilled labour for 6.77 million. It is even expected that there will be job losses in the metalworking machinery sector. The contribution of this paper can serve as a reference for policies to protect vulnerable sectors, further open up trade markets and strengthen cooperation among RCEP members as important measures to address the employment impact of long COVID-19.

From Stakeholder to Rightsholder Perspectives The UNGPs, SDGs and New Paradigms for Corporate Accountability

This essay explores the extent to which the emerging field of Business and Human Rights presents an opportunity to push our theorizing in new directions and extend our understanding of the potential role that accounting could play in contributing to a better and more sustainable world. The paper critically explores the stakeholder conception of corporate social responsibility that has dominated research on Social and Environmental Accounting to date. The first substantive part of the paper outlines the three main strands of stakeholder theory research: descriptive accuracy, normative validity, and instrumental power and begins to explore how the rightsholder perspective, encapsulated in the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights, extends these three perspectives and addresses some of the limitations in stakeholder theory. The second substantive section outlines two specific opportunities for new directions in accounting research: first concerning the connection between corporate accountability and democracy and second about the theorization of accounting measurement. The first issue relates to the theory of the firm, the second, to our theory of value.

The Structure of Social and Environmental Accounting Research: A Citation‐Based Social Network Analysis*

ABSTRACTWe investigate the structure and progress of the emergent field of social and environmental accounting (SEA) research by combining social network analysis (SNA) with a systematic literature review based on 461 papers containing 26,872 citations in total. Our approach, which to the best of our knowledge this study is the first to apply, enables us to use research metrics to identify the knowledge database of SEA research and examine how the field has been evolving. We analyze the connections and structure of foundational SEA research spanning the period 1973–2015. In line with previous research, our results reveal network characteristics typical of an emerging field—that is, subgroups without distinguishing content characteristics and low network density. Our additional analyses show that the results remain unchanged until 2021. The state‐of‐the‐art SNA we apply, the knowledge database we identify, and the insights into the SEA field's structure that we provide support the growth of the field.

The impact of financial management practices on accountability of Islamic social enterprise (ISE)

PurposeThis study aims to examine the role of financial management practices, which consist of financial disclosure, internal control, financial planning and budgeting and financial performance on Islamic social enterprises’ (ISEs) accountability.Design/methodology/approachQuestionnaires were administered to financial officers of 102 Malaysian ISEs. Findings were analysed using Smart-PLS to examine the relationships between financial management practices and accountability.FindingsResults of this study indicate a direct relationship exists between internal control and accountability. Relationships between other financial management practices and accountability are indirect through internal control. Hence, the data demonstrates that internal control has a mediating role on other financial management practices, which are financial disclosure and financial performance management with the accountability of ISEs.Research limitations/implicationsThis study has implicated the significant role of financial management practices in ISEs in the pursuance of their accountability especially internal control to achieve public trust.Practical implicationsAppropriate financial management practices, especially internal control, are essential for the ISEs to achieve good accountability.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the field of management and social accounting by providing empirical evidence on ISE practices specifically on financial management practices and accountability. This framework thus presents among the early attempts in studying accountability issues in ISEs.

A narrative approach for reporting social and environmental accounting impacts in the mining sector – giving marginalized communities a voice

PurposeThis study seeks to collaborate with the discussions on the usefulness of the narrative approach in accounting. In this context, this study aims to elaborate small collective stories, developed from interviews, to expose the population’s perception of the social and environmental impact (positive and negative externalities) resulting from iron ore mining in the city of Congonhas-Minas Gerais (MG).Design/methodology/approachThis research, using counternarratives, aims to elaborate small collective stories, developed from 52 interviews, to expose the population’s perception of externalities resulting from the exploitation of iron ore in the city of Congonhas-MG, Brazil, to give more insight for social and environmental accounting reporting. A qualitative investigation is used with a narrative approach that focuses on a specific event in the participants’ lives.FindingsThe authors sought to create a sense of collective experiences of the interviewees through narratives representative of the residents’ perception of externalities in the form of small collective stories. However, it can be observed that the local population recognizes the impact of numerous externalities. Likewise, the use of narratives allows the reader to experience another reality – a reflection on the impact of business activities in a given context. Unlike conventional corporate social reporting, models based on qualitative information can be inclusive, produced by/for the community toward action that transforms the local reality.Originality/valueThis study intends to contribute to the debate on reporting models that are developed by and for external stakeholders. This approach has the potential to improve participants’ both awareness and engagement, supporting transformative social action. This study makes several contributions. It contributes to the literature with a narrative approach, which is not often used in the accounting literature; it brings insights from the Latin American context, which is especially valuable given how the Anglo-American accounting literature includes few papers addressing this context; it presents the view of marginalized communities that are too often overlooked (this narrative approach offers important insights into the lived experience of people at a very granular level).

COVID-19 impacts of tourism on Chinese economy

To comprehensively assess the economic impacts from China’s tourism industry caused by COVID-19 in 2020, this article develops a new multiplier calculation and decomposition method based on the social accounting matrix (SAM). This method is suitable for situations in which multiple industries are simultaneously exposed to external shocks, especially comprehensive industries like tourism. By categorizing all industries as being in either the tourism sector or the nontourism sector, we calculate the output, value-added and employment impacts of COVID-19, then decompose them into four levels: direct, indirect, spillover and reverberation effects. There are some subindustries of both the tourism and nontourism sectors that were severely affected. Compared with the calculation results from the traditional SAM method, the method developed in this paper identifies quite different industrial structures, although there is almost no difference in the total impacts.

Green Accounting Practice of Nipah (palm trees) Farmers Along Moncongloe Lappara Riverbanks

This study aims to implement practical management accounting on nipah water by looking for inputs and outputs for other commodities. The main problem in this study is how accounting can raise environmental problems in the form of green accounting practices. The review is seen from management accounting to determine cross production between nipah water production as capital input for other commodities. Environmental accounting practices dealing with the problem of pricing agricultural products become increasingly complex in agricultural locations. The data source is primary data taken directly from 30 nipah farmers located on the banks of the Moncongloe Lappara River, Moncongloe District, Maros Regency, South Sulawesi during 2020. The analytical method used is to measure input-output commodities with the Social Accounting Matrix. The results of this study indicate that the total contribution index of sap water production from Nipah is 456.66 to other commodities, while commodity B is 1236.04 and commodity C is 851.66. With this contribution, farmers can manage their own sources of funds sourced from nipa palm water in a sustainable manner, not only farmers in the Lappara Moncongloe River area, but also the condition of nipa palm farmers in other parts of Indonesia

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ACCOUNTING AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REPORTING

The word social responsibility means to help the society in every manner as well as social accounting is attracting the attention of many industrialists today as a result of industrial growth & economic prosperity of many nations. If an organization has to function effectively and survive, it has to be accountable to the public at a large. Many Indian companies have given “value added statement” and sustainability reports in their annual reports in place of social reporting.
 Social accounting is a method by which a firm seeks to place a value on the impact on society of its operations. The effect on society of the packaging it produced share holders, mandatory social disclosure requirement and management’s motivation to improve the firm image more and more corporations of developed countries.

The economic impact of a tourist tax in Andalusia examined through a price effect model

ABSTRACT The tourism industry is a key sector in the Andalusian economy; it accounts for 13% of the regional GDP and 14% of the employment. In 2019, 32.5 million tourists visited Andalusia, and the tourism sector generated 22.6 billion euros. In 2020, the year in which COVID-19 paralysed the world, 13.4 million tourists visited Andalusia, which translated into 8,500 million euros of income. After this decrease in tourism in 2020, the total number of tourists for the year 2021 was 20 million, and the forecast for the year 2022 is 28 million tourists. This article analyzes how to use a social accounting matrix (SAM) to empirically study the effects of such a price burden on the regional economy of Andalusia. The methodology that we use consists of a specific model of price effects, which analyzes the impact of introducing a tourist tax in Andalusia. The database used in the analysis is the Andalusian SAM, which was built using data from 2016. This study will enable us to better understand and reflect on the existing structural interdependence between the productive sectors and to evaluate the implicit weights and price elasticities of different tourist items.

Featured Collection Introduction: Severe Sustained Drought Revisited: Managing the Colorado River System in Times of Water Shortage 25 Years Later — Part I

Featured Collection Introduction: Severe Sustained Drought Revisited: Managing the Colorado River System in Times of Water Shortage 25 Years Later — Part I

The Influence of Contemporary Neo-Liberal Capitalistic Practices to the Accountants’ Conceptualisation of Business Ownership: Towards a Common Good Centric Ethical Critique

Purpose: In our contemporary times, everything in the economy has come to be determined by money. The idea of ownership is thus inevitably replaced by money. Consequently, accountants have narrowly seen the concept of ownership solely in terms of the market and investors. The objective of this study is to provide an insight to the problem that is inherent to the conceptualisation of business ownership, by the accounting profession, as it excludes the role that is played by the stakeholders in the economy.
 Methodology: A theoretical approach was adopted and literature relevant to accounting and applied ethics was used.
 Findings: It was concluded that accountants are not giving due regard to their standards codes of ethics and conduct by not acknowledging everyone who has a stake in a business as part of the business owners for the benefit of those with a financial stake, that is the stockholders.
 Recommendations: It is recommended that accounting profession adopt the social and ethical accounting approach that accommodate all the stakeholder with their varied needs and expectations. Accountants must pursue their professional responsibilities within an ethical framework of the Common Good. In a world that has become sensitised to the reality of interconnectedness, it is argued that it is time that the accounting profession considers the implications of systems theory with specific reference to their conceptualisation of business ownership.

GreenhOuse gas emissions in Vietnam: an analysis based on a social accounting matrix with firm heterogeneity

ABSTRACT Vietnam is one of the fastest-growing polluters in the world – due to rapid industrialization facilitated by massive foreign investments. This study estimates the sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions arising from activities of firms using a social accounting matrix (SAM) that incorporates firm heterogeneity based on ownership style, namely, state-owned enterprises, private firms, and foreign-invested enterprises. The results show that an increase in exports or investments increases GHG gas emissions to varying degrees depending on whether the increase occurs in state-owned enterprises, private firms, or foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs). The largest increase in emissions results from an increase in exports and investments of FIEs, whereas the increase in emissions due to private firms and SOEs is much smaller. The results imply that it is important to consider the impact of foreign investments and the activities of foreign firms on GHG emissions in Vietnam.

Accounting for Anticorruption: Where Are the Social and Environmental Accounting Scholars?

ABSTRACT Accounting and corruption exist in a tense relationship in which accounting is either the solution to or an accomplice of corruption. Diverse areas of accounting research have examined both sides of this relationship, but social and environmental accounting (SEA) scholarship has lagged well behind. This is unfortunate, as venality has dreadful impacts on society and the natural environment. This commentary invites SEA scholars to shed light on the intricate bonds between accounting, corruption and sustainability. To support my argument, I explain why corruption matters to SEA and review prior studies that examine the intersection of these two areas. Building on extant accounting research on corruption, I argue that future research should explore the effects of the new public management (NPM) type of anticorruption reforms on the social and environmental agenda. I maintain that, when used, NPM practices should be adapted to local settings. I also make a case for exploring the potential of locally informed accounting practices to curb corruption that affects sustainability practices.

An economic assessment of the impact of climate change on the Gambia’s agriculture sector: a CGE approach

PurposeClimate change and its imminent threat to human survival adversely impact the agriculture sector. In an impoverished country like The Gambia, economic costs of climate change are colossal. This study aims to establish a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model for The Gambia’s agriculture sector to examine the effects of climate change on crops, livestock and sea-level rise.Design/methodology/approachThis study used a CGE model with other climate change impact models to compute the impacts of climate change on The Gambia’s agriculture sector. The social accounting matrix calibrates the results from the various models, thereby generating the baseline results which exemplify a “steady-state” and policy shock results illustrating the medium- and long-term effects of climate change on the country’s agriculture sector.FindingsThe baseline results indicate the status quo showing the neglect of the agriculture sector due to limited investment in the sector. Hence, the sector is the “hardest hit” sector as a result of climate change. When the model factored in climate change in the medium term (2055) and long term (2085), the macroeconomic indicators of gross domestic product, national savings, wages, disposable income and consumer price index deteriorated, elucidating the vulnerability of the economy to climate change. The consumption of groundnuts, cattle and fish will decline by 5%, 5% and 4%, respectively, in the long term. However, the production of all agricultural commodities will decline by an average of 35% for the same period. The results for international trade show that exportation would decline while importation will increase over time. The general price level for agricultural commodities would increase by 3% in 2055 and 5% in 2085. Generally, the results manifest the severity of climate change in the agriculture sector which will have a multiplier effect on the economy. The impact of climate change would result in agriculture and economic decline causing hunger, poverty and human misery.Originality/valueThe caveat of this study revealed the nuances not captured by previous Gambian climate change studies, thus the novelty of the study.

지속가능경영과 다양성: 제도주의이론 관점에서 본 이사회 내 여성 임원 비율

This paper examines the effects of corporate behaviors related to sustainable management which are presumably intended to attain institutional legitimacy on the diversity of board of directors in terms of the proportion of female executives in board composition. While previous studies focused mainly on roles of female board members in the advancement of corporate social responsibility or accounting transparency, we pay attention to the institutional factors that may affect female executives’ participation in the board of directors. The results of our empirical analysis of leading Korean corporations in terms of market capitalization from 2014 to 2018 show that corporate characteristics and behaviors related to sustainability and institutional dynamics, such as publishing sustainability report, sensitivity of environmental issues, and visibility within institutional fields, have positive effects on the participation of female executives in the board of directors, as predicted in our hypotheses.

Debating accounting and sustainability: from incompatibility to rapprochement in the pursuit of corporate sustainability

PurposeThis article explores and contrasts the views of two influential research projects within the social and environmental accounting space. Both projects advocate for sustainability. The first here referred to as the Critical Social and Environmental Accounting Project (CSEAP), was developed and championed by Rob Gray and calls for immediate radical structural change. The second one is called the Pragmatic Sustainability Management Accounting Project (PSMAP), championed by Stefan Schaltegger, and advocates for an entrepreneurial process of creating radical solutions in joint stakeholder collaboration over time.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is the culmination of a decade-long debate between Gray and Schaltegger as advocates of CSEAP and PSMAP, respectively. Specifically, the paper explores the differences and agreements between CSEAP and PSMAP on whether and how companies should pursue sustainability and the role of accounting in these efforts. The paper focusses on critical issues that exemplify the tension in their views: general goals, the role of structure and agency and how to creating change and transformation.FindingsThe article contrasts CSEAP's uncompromising antagonising approach to accountability and fundamental systemic change with PSMAP's pragmatic approach to sustainability accounting with its management and entrepreneurship-orientated approach to change and unwavering support for transformative managers on the front lines. Despite their apparent differences, the paper also outlines areas of agreement between these two positions and how accounting and sustainability can move forward.Research limitations/implicationsThe debate tries to reconcile language and conceptional differences in the social and environmental accounting (SEA) and sustainability management accounting (SMA) communities to reduce confusion in the research space over what sustainability is for organisations and what role accounting plays in this. The authors hope that the tension between the different positions outlined in this paper generates new insights and positions on the topic.Practical implicationsWhile the two views explored in this paper are primarily incompatible, each generates implications for practice, research and education. Debates like this are crucial to moving from discursive disagreement to creating a tolerant and robust foundation for moving forward and achieving much-needed sustainable transitions in the economy and society.Originality/valueThe authors offer shared understandings, points of continuing disagreement and alternative views on the nature of sustainability. The debate forges a bridge of understanding where both sides can learn from each other.

Monetizing social value in sports clubs

PurposeEuropean elite professional basketball clubs do not pursue economic profit maximization per se, but they also seek to create social value for stakeholders due to the community outreach and the emotional bonding that such organizations create. Here the purpose of this paper is to use an accounting system called social accounting to measure the social effects of an organization's activity in an effort to monetize and describe the holistic value created by these sports organizations for their stakeholders.Design/methodology/approachThis study applies an adapted, redesigned social accounting using SPOLY methodology to two elite basketball clubs in the ACB League (Spanish First Division), in order to monetize their social value. This methodology integrates non-market social value (value created for stakeholders without a financial transaction) with market social value (value created for stakeholders through market transactions), by monetizing validated dimensions for non-market and market social value obtained via information provided by clubs and their financial statements.FindingsClubs create a quantifiable social value for stakeholders through non-market and market dimensions. Value creation is not merely restricted to securing financial profit for shareholders but rather takes on another dimension in which the various stakeholders receive a holistic value from clubs.Originality/valueThis study provides evidence that clubs generate a quantifiable social value for their stakeholders that complements their economic value. This can help clubs to set up their own narrative concerning value creation for stakeholders and enable them to convey and manage the overall distributed value for stakeholders.

Normativity in social accounts of reasoning: a Rylean approach

In recent years, the philosophy and psychology of reasoning have made a ‘social turn’: in both disciplines it is now common to reject the traditional picture of reasoning as a solitary intellectual exercise in favour of the idea that reasoning is a social activity driven by social aims. According to the most prominent social account, Mercier and Sperber’s interactionist theory, this implies that reasoning is not a normative activity. As they argue, in producing reasons we are not trying to ‘get things right’; instead our aims are to justify ourselves and persuade others to accept our views. I will argue that even if interactionism has played a crucial role in bringing about the ‘social turn’ in our thinking about reasoning, it does not convince in its claim that reasoning is not a normative activity. Moreover, I argue that it is in fact perfectly possible to understand reasoning as a social tool that is also aimed at getting things right. I will propose that Gilbert Ryle’s conceptualization of reasoning as ‘didactic discourse’ offers one possible way to understand reasoning as both social and normative activity, and that as such his ideas could be of great value for the social turn in our thinking about reasoning.

Sex and Location Differences in Verification Status of Physician-Held Social Media Platform Accounts

This cross-sectional study investigated the association of user sex and location with verification of physician-held social media accounts.