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Sustainability, Accounting, and Business Strategies
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Sustainability, Accounting, and Business Strategies

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2024 | Viewed by 7955

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Haiyan Zhou

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Accountancy, Vackar College of Business and Entrepreneurship, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, 1201 West University Dr., Edinburg, TX 78539, USA
Interests: sustainability; corporate governance; accounting disclosure; internal controls; auditing
Dr. Linna Shi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Accounting, Carl H. Lindner College of Business, University of Cincinnati, 2906 Woodside Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA
Interests: earnings management; market mispricing on accounting information; corporate governance; sustainability; corporate social responsibility
Prof. Dr. Nan Zhou

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Accounting, Carl H. Lindner College of Business, University of Cincinnati, 2906 Woodside Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA
Interests: auditing; financial reporting; corporate governance; accounting regulation; sustainability; corporate social responsibility

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

According to the 2020 KPMG Survey of Sustainability Reporting, 80% of companies worldwide now report on sustainability, with North America having the highest sustainability reporting rate among all regions with 90%. Around one in five companies provide the integrated annual report that supplements traditional financial reporting with a nonfinancial statement on sustainability. As a result, KPMG states that third-party assurance of sustainability information is now a majority business practice worldwide.

Sustainability reporting focuses on the effect of firms’ business strategies on the environment, society, and governance (ESG). As an integral part of a firm’s corporate social responsibility programs, sustainability reporting improves corporate reputation, builds consumer confidence, and mitigates business risk. As accountants, with their expertise on information disclosure, naturally play a key role in sustainability reporting, we are interested in obtaining a deeper understanding on how accounting is connected to sustainability and sustainability-related business strategies.

This Special Issue will address innovative approaches in studying the intertwined relations among sustainability, accounting, and business strategies.

Topics of interest for this Special Issue include (but are not limited to):

  • Sustainability reporting;
  • Sustainability disclosure;
  • Sustainability assurance;
  • Sustainable business strategies;
  • Sustainable practices;
  • Corporate governance and sustainability;
  • Internal control and sustainability;
  • Big data and sustainability;
  • Sustainability and corporate innovation;
  • Sustainability and corporate philanthropy;
  • International evidence on sustainability;
  • Reporting of nonfinancial information.

Authors are invited to submit both empirical and conceptual papers. The papers selected for this Special Issue will undergo a peer review process with the aim of disseminating research results, progress, and applications quickly and widely.

Prof. Dr. Haiyan Zhou
Dr. Linna Shi
Prof. Dr. Nan Zhou
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sustainability
  • accounting
  • business strategy
  • disclosure
  • corporate governance

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 298 KiB  
Article
The Associations of Spirituality, Adversity Quotient and Ethical Decision Making of Accounting Managers in the Contexts of Financial Management and Corporate Social Responsibility
by Hok-Ko Pong and Chun-Cheong Fong
Sustainability 2023, 15(19), 14287; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151914287 - 27 Sep 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 982
Abstract
The objectives of this study are to explore the associations and interactions of spirituality, the adversity quotient (AQ), and the ethical decision making (EDM) of accounting managers in the contexts of financial management and corporate social responsibility. Additionally, the study aims to evaluate [...] Read more.
The objectives of this study are to explore the associations and interactions of spirituality, the adversity quotient (AQ), and the ethical decision making (EDM) of accounting managers in the contexts of financial management and corporate social responsibility. Additionally, the study aims to evaluate the predictive roles of spirituality and the adversity quotient (AQ) on their ethical decision making. A self-administered questionnaire was utilised to collect data from 510 accounting managers via the quantitative approach. The research results provide empirical evidence that the spiritual wellbeing (SWB) and AQ of accounting managers are positively correlated with EDM. In particular, the personal–communal domain of SWB is a significant predictor of moral equity, contractualism, egoism and deontology, whilst the environmental domain of SWB is a significant predictor of contractualism, utilitarianism, egoism and deontology. In terms of demographics, religion is a significant predictor of moral equity and deontology, whilst the origin and ownership dimension of AQ is a significant predictor of moral equity, contractualism, egoism and deontology. The control and reach dimensions of AQ are a significant predictor of moral equity respectively. Overall, individual characteristics, personal values, beliefs, interpersonal relationships and the environmental domain of SWB significantly influence EDM among accounting managers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability, Accounting, and Business Strategies)
23 pages, 693 KiB  
Article
Environmental Information Disclosure and Corporate Green Innovation: The Moderating Effect of Formal and Informal Institutions
by Xiyan Bai and Chan Lyu
Sustainability 2023, 15(7), 6169; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15076169 - 3 Apr 2023
Viewed by 2038
Abstract
Green innovation has been recognized as a strategic priority to build competitive advantage, but few studies have examined the impact of environmental information disclosure on green innovation in emerging economies. By integrating the stakeholder and institutional theories, this study explores the relationship between [...] Read more.
Green innovation has been recognized as a strategic priority to build competitive advantage, but few studies have examined the impact of environmental information disclosure on green innovation in emerging economies. By integrating the stakeholder and institutional theories, this study explores the relationship between environmental information disclosure and green innovation under formal and informal institutions. Using the panel data of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2009 to 2021, the findings reveal that environmental information disclosure positively affects corporates’ green innovation. Further, this research finds that this positive effect is strengthened by the formal institution (proxied by the institutional environment) but weakened by the informal institution (proxied by political connection). Results are valid after addressing the potential endogeneity problem and remain unchanged in robustness tests. This study’s findings affirm the decision usefulness of environmental information disclosure that corporates can use as an effective strategy to promote green innovation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability, Accounting, and Business Strategies)
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36 pages, 3844 KiB  
Article
The Impact of Officials’ Off-Office Accountability Audit of Natural Resource Assets on Firms’ Green Innovation Strategies: A Quasi-Natural Experiment in China
by Xihui Chen, Juan Ou, Xuemei Tang and Qinghe Yang
Sustainability 2023, 15(3), 2640; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032640 - 1 Feb 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1813
Abstract
It is important to assess the factors that affect firms’ strategies for environmental improvement. Taking China’s pilot of officials’ off-office accountability audit of natural resource assets (hereafter accountability audit) that commenced in 2014 as an exogenous shock to government audits of leading officials, [...] Read more.
It is important to assess the factors that affect firms’ strategies for environmental improvement. Taking China’s pilot of officials’ off-office accountability audit of natural resource assets (hereafter accountability audit) that commenced in 2014 as an exogenous shock to government audits of leading officials, we use a difference-in-differences method (DID) to examine the impact of government audits on firms’ green innovation strategies. Our results show that the accountability audit increases the proximity between firms’ previous and present green innovation fields and enhances incremental rather than radical green innovation. Furthermore, these influences are stronger in the case of pressure from local governments for firms to adopt environmental protection measures, government control of firms, and market performance pressures than in other cases. In addition, the accountability audit drives investment in environmental protection toward green innovation in existing fields. Finally, the accountability audit increases firms’ economic value added and disclosure of social responsibility information. Overall, our study provides evidence that firms conduct similar and known green innovations in response to government audits. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability, Accounting, and Business Strategies)
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19 pages, 340 KiB  
Article
MSE Response during Times of Crisis: The Roles of Budgeting Micro Functions and Guanxi
by Rob Kim Marjerison and Jong Min Kim
Sustainability 2022, 14(17), 10990; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141710990 - 2 Sep 2022
Viewed by 1950
Abstract
This study explores how micro and small enterprises (MSEs) rely on and adapt their budgetary practices to guide their activities during times of crisis, specifically during the COVID-19 global pandemic that began in early 2020. While the existing literature has mainly focused on [...] Read more.
This study explores how micro and small enterprises (MSEs) rely on and adapt their budgetary practices to guide their activities during times of crisis, specifically during the COVID-19 global pandemic that began in early 2020. While the existing literature has mainly focused on large enterprises during economic crises, this paper will specifically consider MSEs in Southeast China during and since the pandemic. The primary data were collected via an online survey distributed in Wenzhou municipality, with 397 responses included in the analysis. The results indicate that within the budgeting process, the micro functions of planning and performance evaluation had less importance during the pandemic while the importance placed on the function of resource allocation was unchanged. The findings suggest that MSEs during crises placed less importance on the budgeting process and more on guanxi-related considerations for maintaining financial liquidity, including customer and government relationship building. Our findings add a resource-based view of the capability of guanxi during times of crisis. In addition, the limitations and future research are discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability, Accounting, and Business Strategies)
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