Corinne Cortese

Accounting for climate change and the self-regulation of carbon disclosures

Abstract Adopting a form of “critical dialogic engagement” (Bebbington et al., 2007), this paper explores how dominant environmental discourses can influence and shape carbon disclosure regulation. Carbon-related disclosures have increased significantly in the last five years, and many of these disclosures remain voluntary. This paper considers both the construction of self-regulated carbon disclosure practices and the role that this kind of carbon information may have in climate change-related decision making. Our preliminary findings indicate that the methodological diversity underpinning carbon disclosures may inhibit the usefulness of climate change-related data. To explore these issues, this paper focuses on the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and the use of the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol as a reporting model within it.

Powerful players: How constituents captured the setting of IFRS 6, an accounting standard for the extractive industries

Abstract This paper illustrates the influence of powerful players in the setting of IFRS 6, a new International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) for the extractive industries. A critical investigative inquiry of the international accounting standard setting process, using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), reveals some of the key players, analyses the surrounding discourse and its implications, and assesses the outcomes. An analysis of small cross-section of comment letters submitted to the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) by one international accounting firm, one global mining corporation and one industry group reveal the hidden coalitions between powerful players. These coalitions indicate that the regulatory process of setting IFRS 6 has been captured by powerful extractive industries constituents so that it merely codifies existing industry practice.

Extractive industries accounting and economic consequences: past, present and future

Abstract Accounting for the extractive industries has been a contested issue for decades as a result of a choice of different methods of costing available and the economic impacts of these methods on companies’ financial results. When the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) embarked on its extractive industries project in 1998, it attempted to create uniform accounting practices. An archival study of constituent responses to the IASBs Issues Paper revealed that the economic consequences argument was relied upon again to argue for retaining choice. The IASBs international accounting standard, IFRS 6, issued in 2004, once again permitted choice between methods, illustrating the effectiveness of the economic consequences argument in perpetuating past practice.

Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting Quality, Board Characteristics and Corporate Social Reputation: Evidence from China

– This paper aims to examine the influence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting quality and board characteristics on corporate social reputation of Chinese listed firms. , – Firms chosen for this study are drawn from a social responsibility ranking list of Chinese listed firms. The social responsibility rating scores identified by this ranking list are used to measure the social reputation of firms studied. The model-testing method is used to examine hypothesised relationships between CSR reporting quality, board characteristics and corporate social reputation. , – The results indicate that CSR reporting quality positively influences corporate social reputation but chief executive officer/chairman duality as a measure of board characteristics has a negative impact on corporate social reputation. Firm’s financial performance and firm size also positively influence corporate social reputation. , – The relatively small sample of firms for a cross-sectional study, and the proxies constructed for various concepts to empirically test hypotheses can limit generalising findings to firms outside the social responsibility ranking list. Future studies can undertake longitudinal analysis and compare socially responsible firms with others to expand empirical findings about corporate social reputation. , – This paper investigates the influences of CSR reporting quality and board characteristics on corporate social reputation in the context of a developing country, China.

Ideology diffusion and the role of accounting: a Gramscian approach to understanding China's transition from 1949 to 1957

Using Gramsci’s concept of hegemony, the aim of this article is to explore the role of ideology diffusion in creating and maintaining Mao’s political hegemony during the period 1949 to 1957, and to consider how accounting practices were reflected in this period of transition in China. In particular, we provide an understanding of how accounting systems have changed under the influence of various political ideologies in China, being the New Democracy and the socialist ideology adopted from the Soviet Union, by considering the relationships and struggles between organic and traditional intellectuals that Gramsci has theorized. We find that the diffusion of political ideologies is reflected in the accounting systems used in these particular periods of transition.

Standardizing oil and gas accounting in the US in the 1970s: Insights from the perspective of regulatory capture

Attempts by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) to standardize oil and gas accounting in the 1970s has been referred to as the “most politicised accounting argument ever” (Van Riper, 1994, p.56). Marking the only instance in which the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has declined to support the FASB’s standards, the failure of the FASB to limit accounting method choice has had lasting implications with divergent methods still practised by oil and gas companies today. This study presents a narrative of this development and specifically examines the events through the lens of regulatory capture theory to show that the industry was successful in capturing the regulatory process and securing its preferred outcome.

Reflections on a bilingual peer assisted learning program

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify and evaluate faculty and academic staff perceptions, experiences and expectations with respect to a voluntary, bilingual peer assisted learning (PAL) program, which operates for the benefit of students studying in the Faculty of Business at a regional Australian University. Design/methodology/approach – A survey instrument and semi-structured interviews were used to faculty executive and academic staff in order to collect information about the perceived benefits of the program and identify opportunities for improvement. Findings – Based on an analysis of student results, the bilingual PAL program is shown to have a positive effect on performance of students participating in the program. Results from interviews with executive and academic staff indicate a high level of support for this type of student learning program. Originality/value – Although the value of both bilingual teaching and PAL has been explored in the teaching and learning literature, few st...

A socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics: The accounting annual report of China Mobile

Abstract Since the economic opening reform in the 1970s, China has undergone significant ideological change that has shifted the country’s focus from a planned economy to a market economy. The co-existence of a market economy with a socialist political regime offers a unique opportunity to explore the role of accounting in contemporary China. Using critical discourse analysis, we have analysed the production, distribution, and consumption of a leading Chinese SOE’s annual report that has a dual readership (i.e. Chinese and Western). We demonstrate that accounting reflects and helps naturalise the competing ideologies of a global market economy with strong government control.

Exploring hegemonic change in China: a case of accounting evolution

Purpose - This paper aims to provide an understanding of how accounting systems have changed across four distinct periods of hegemonic leadership in China. Design/methodology/approach - Using Gramscis concept of hegemony, periods of leadership and accounting change throughout Chinese history are examined, including the Confucian tradition, the rise of the socialist system followed by the Cultural Revolution in the Maoist era, and the move towards the socialist-market system in the Dengist era. Findings - This paper shows how political leaders in these different time periods effectively achieved leadership by destroying an existing hegemony, creating a new ideology, and implanting this into peoples daily lives in order to successfully mobilise their ideological systems. Consistent with changes in leadership, Chinese accounting systems are shown to have responded to hegemonic shifts across these periods. Originality/value - This paper contributes to understandings of Gramscis concept of hegemony, explanations of, and motivations for, accounting change, and provides an insight into the evolution of accounting systems throughout time in the context of China.

The interplay between accounting professionals and political ideologies: The emergence of Chinese accounting standards from 1978 to 1992:

This article explores the role of accounting professionals in the emergence of the first set of accounting standards – Accounting Standards for Business Enterprises (ASBE) – in China between 1978 and 1992. Based on a variety of sources drawn from the archives of Chinese language accounting textbooks and highly ranked academic journals, this article reveals how accounting professionals adapted accounting thoughts and practice to fit the demands of the prevailing political ideologies, which facilitated the social conditions essential for the development of ASBE. Drawing on theoretical perspectives on the interplay between accounting and its social context, as pronounced and advocated by Hopwood and his collaborators, this article provides evidence that further demonstrates the social nature of accounting as it was implicated in the broader economic and political transformations in China between 1978 and 1992.