The Organizational and Operational Boundaries of Triple Bottom Line Reporting: A Survey

This article responds to Gray’s (2002) call for normative research on social and environmental accounting (SEA) and Parker’s (2005) call for active engagement in the process of designing SEA systems. More specifically, our investigation focuses on the study of boundary setting for triple bottom line (TBL) reporting, an issue that has been given more attention by practitioners than by researchers. The study reviews the consequences of boundary setting for the discharge of organizational accountability, from which it develops a framework to investigate TBL reporting boundaries and then reports on an empirical survey of best practice. It concludes that organizations are strategically setting and disclosing their boundaries instead of discharging their accountability and argues that such strategies have far-reaching consequences, because reporting boundaries are not only reflective of organizations but also have a constitutive role in their definition. A further consequence is that it calls into question the use of voluntary labeling, such as “in accordance” with Global Reporting Initiative; one implication being that further research into technical developments in TBL reporting could contribute to the discharge of organizational accountability.     

Environmental accounting for waste management: A study of local governments in Australia

Local governments in Australia, especially in large urban areas, have faced a challenge of the growing quantity of waste generated and the diminishing space for waste disposal in recent years. The central government has demonstrated the importance of developing strategies to make full environmental costs and impacts of waste disposal and material recovery accountable for waste management decision-making. However, research into this field is limited. This paper investigates environmental accounting practices in local government waste management. From a survey conducted with local government authorities in New South Wales (NSW) Australia, it is found that overall the level of direct waste flow and activity accounting is higher than the level of hidden and external environmental cost accounting, though local governments tend to identify and use more physical information associated with waste flows and activities than relevant monetary information. External environmental impacts of waste disposal are often overlooked and show the lowest level of practices. The survey results also indicate that urban local governments have taken more environmental information into account than rural local governments, but such difference is not significant between local governments of different sizes. The complexity of waste technical services and operations is confirmed to have a positive and significant effect on the level of environmental accounting for waste management across local governments surveyed.     

Evaluation of the First Phase of Sulfur Dioxide and Nitrogen Oxides Provisions of the 1990 Clean Air Act: A Plant-Based Approach

Electric power generating plants that use coal were among the key targets of Title IV of the 1990 Clean Air Act. Under the first phase of the act, 110 coal-fired electric power plants were required to reduce their sulfur dioxide emissions by 1995 and nitrogen oxide emissions by 1996. Phase 2 of the act requires even greater reduction of sulfur dioxide emissions by 2000 and nitrogen oxide emissions by 2008. This study examines whether the 107 targeted plants (three plants went off-line) have achieved the desired sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emission levels. The analysis of sulfur dioxide is based on data from 1990, 1995, and 1999. The findings show that although sulfur oxide increased by 3% from 1995 to 1999, it decreased by 45% over the 1990–1999 period at the firm level for the targeted firms. The findings also indicate that the overall reduction in sulfur dioxide was achieved by utilizing low sulfur coal and by purchasing emission allowances. So far as nitrogen oxides are concerned, there has been a reduction of 14% over the 1990–1999 period, of which 7% was achieved during the 1995–1999 period. An evaluation of emissions at the plant level indicates that several plants do not meet the emissions level for sulfur dioxide or nitrogen oxides. These results provide a mixed scorecard for reduction in emissions both for sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Even though there is reduction in the emissions on an overall basis at the firm level, several plants that have not been able to reduce emissions deserve special attention to meet the goals of the act in reducing emissions.     

江苏省自然资源核算及对GDP的修正—以水、大气资源为例

传统国民经济核算体系对资源环境的忽视是造成当今资源环境问题的主要经济学原因,对江苏省自然资源（以水、大气资源为例）核算的结果表明,以GDP为主要衡量指标的传统国民经济核算体系过高地估计了江苏经济增长水平,江苏经济增长存在着较为严重的环境负债,以经资源环境调整的绿色GDP（或称EDP）取代传统GDP,构建可持续发展衡量指标与核算体系,应是目前可持续发展工作的关键。     

医院会计核算与成本核算一体化的刍议

目前大多数医院成本核算没有与会计核算资料共享,不利于医院成本核算和管理.此文从医院会计核算与成本核算的概念入手,着重阐述医院会计核算与成本核算化一体化内容,并提出了一体化具体措施及要求,使院领导能及时、客观地掌握医疗活动成本运行状况,为增收节支及发展战略决策提供可靠依据.参6.     

浅谈我国企业成本会计的发展趋势和对策

随着现代企业制度的建立和健全,目前企业成本会计正经历着前所未有的变化.市场竞争,归根到底是产品的成本与质量之间的竞争.就成本会计正经历着前所未有的变化,分析当前新制造环境对成本会计的冲击、管理理论与方法的创新对成本会计的影响;并就成本会计如何顺应国际国内市场环境及企业生产环境的变化提出了相应的对策.参4.     

露天煤矿矿区生态资产负债核算技术方案

生态资产负债核算技术体系是施行生态环境管理政绩考核制度的必要科技支撑.目前生态资产研究在核算内容上注重生态资产流量评估而忽视生态资产存量损失计量,强调生态系统服务变化研究而对其变化原因探索不足,并且在研究技术手段上强调3S宏观技术手段而忽视微观生态要素调查和生态环境质量评价,因此尚不足以为地方政府生态环境管控绩效考核提供强有力支撑.针对露天煤矿开采所导致的严峻生态环境问题,将微观研究手段与宏观分析技术方法相结合,通过对比来分析核算时段起止年份生态资产存量的类别、数量、质量、空间格局,辨识矿区采矿作业、土地复垦、生态恢复等人类活动对生态环境的损益类型和特征;基于不同类别存量生态资产质量评价来判别其损益程度,进而划分生态资产负债核算类型区并探究其损益原因;以此为前提探索构建包括存量、流量及负债三部分内容在内的生态资产负债核算框架及技术方法,并采用直接法和间接法编制生态资产负债表.研究旨在弥补现有区域生态资产评估技术的不足,以为生态环境管理绩效考核提供更为客观、详实、可靠的资料数据为核心,倡导生态资产研究内容与方法的革新.      

污水厂污泥典型处理处置工艺碳排放核算研究

污泥的处理与处置是污水厂运行过程中碳排放的主要产生源之一。基于联合国政府间气候变化专门委员会(IPCC)的方法学原则,构建污泥处理处置过程中产生的碳排放及碳汇的核算方法,并以某污水厂污泥的处理处置过程为例,计算其典型工艺下运行的碳排放量,分析其碳排放特征并提出减排建议。结果表明:深度脱水和填埋是污泥处理处置碳排放的主要来源;污泥厌氧消化产生的沼气用于消化温度维持和干化工艺,具有显著的减排效应;污泥土地利用具有低碳排放效应特征,是污泥处理处置低碳发展的优选模式。     

建立MFCA账户对竹产业节能减排和环境保护的影响研究

竹产业既是传统行业又是新兴产业,在国家提倡的节能减排和环境保护过程中扮演重要角色.通过分析竹产业的现状,十分有必要给竹产业企业建立MFCA账户.同时,通过对浙江S拉丝企业的MFCA分析,建议S竹拉丝企业在能量损耗和机械折旧率控制上减少不必要的消耗,如精准控制无聊投放的时间节点,并且减少系统资源成本,积极与当地政府沟通,达成在政策层面有效支持节能减排和环境保护的推广,如与环境紧密关联的负产品处置补贴等.     

Constructing genuine savings indicators for Ireland, 1995-2005

In this paper we compute the genuine savings indicators for the Republic of Ireland over the period 1995-2005. We expand and improve existing World Bank's estimates by: a) using data collected from official Irish sources; b) employing the net present value method to assess resource depreciation; c) including external costs from SO(2) and NOx emissions; and d) estimating human capital accumulation using the returns to education. We also perform a sensitivity analysis to check the robustness of our estimates to different assumptions and parameters. Our estimates are consistently smaller than the World Bank's and negative in the first years of the period considered.