Background: Sustainable development is the buzzword of the decade, yet developing countries struggle to comply with environmental guidelines. A study was done to determine the possibility of financial gain by means of share price prosperity as a result of compliance with environmental accounting principles. Objective: To investigate the relationship between the commitment to environmental accounting principles and the share price of Main Board listed companies on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Design: A quantitative, cross-sectional design with descriptive, explanatory and contextual elements was undertaken. Setting and Sample: An all-inclusive sample of the announcements of the Main Board listed companies of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange between 1 June 2008 and 1 June 2013 was used, as well as a stratified random sample of 32 companies – 16 as listed on the SRI Index and 16 not. Measurements: Data related to compliance with environmental accounting principles were correlated with share price fluctuations of Main Board listed companies. T-tests were done to determine whether a correlation exists between compliance with environmental accounting principles and fluctuations in share price. Results: 56 instances of upward trends and 80 instances of downward trends after one month followed announcements that included compliance to environmental accounting principles (one constant and one unknown). 52 instances of upward trends and 54 instances of downward trends after one year followed these announcements (30 unknown). 48 out of 336 listed companies (14%) announce environmental accounting principle compliance with their shareholders. More announcements referring to environmental accounting compliance were posted in 2012 and 2013 (n = 17 and n = 22 averaged for six months) compared to those in 2008 to 2011 (n = 9; n = 15; n = 14 and n = 15 averaged for six months). 56% of companies complying with environmental accounting principles are from the mining industry. 39.19% of principles complied with was within the diverse principle division. P-values derived from t-tests done to investigate correlations between share price and compliance with environmental accounting principles on various levels all revealed P-values of more than 0.25. Conclusions: No statistically significant correlation could be made between compliance with environmental accounting principles and fluctuations in share price. There is low divulgence of compliance practices to shareholders from mentioned companies. An upward trend for compliance with environmental accounting principles is noted during the past five years. The mining industry showed the greatest compliance with these principles when judged according to divulgence of compliance by means of announcements to their shareholders as well as when judged according to stance on the SRI Index. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

This study is to discuss ¡§The Effect of Environmental Cost on the Management Strategy of an Oil Company¡¨, using exploratory research, documentary review, case study, and interview. The purposes of the study are: to clarify the definition of environmental cost, the effect of environmental cost on refinery costs, the exposure of environmental cost of the case, and the effect of environmental cost on the management strategy. The conclusions of this study are presented as follows: 1. The influence of corporation culture on the development of environmental accounting system is important. 2. The clear definition of environmental cost is important for the integrity of environmental cost informatiom. 3. The effect of integrity of environmental cost on the management stragety is positive. 4. The environmental cost has positive effect on cost leadership strategy. 5. The consciousness of environmental protection has positive influence for the image of companies that carry out the environmental accounting. 6. The exposure of environmental cost doesn¡¦t affect the oil market sharing directly. 7. The policy of the government has significant influence on the implementation of environmental cost. The study suggestes government should set up the regulations that suitable for environmental accounting and porposes the following suggestions for enterprise: 1. To establish the culture that think highly of environmental cost. 1. To set up an environmental management performance assessment system. 3. Environmental accounting system must be integrated with the management information system tightly. 4. To build up an integrity environmental accounting system. 5. To uncover its environmental cost on the annual report to heave the image of the company. 6. To use the environmental accounting system as the basis of capital expenditure. 7. To utilize the environmental cost information to improve the refinery structure and competitive strength.

Background: Sustainable development is the buzzword of the decade, yet developing countries struggle to comply with environmental guidelines. A study was done to determine the possibility of financial gain by means of share price prosperity as a result of compliance with environmental accounting principles. Objective: To investigate the relationship between the commitment to environmental accounting principles and the share price of Main Board listed companies on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Design: A quantitative, cross-sectional design with descriptive, explanatory and contextual elements was undertaken. Setting and Sample: An all-inclusive sample of the announcements of the Main Board listed companies of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange between 1 June 2008 and 1 June 2013 was used, as well as a stratified random sample of 32 companies – 16 as listed on the SRI Index and 16 not. Measurements: Data related to compliance with environmental accounting principles were correlated with share price fluctuations of Main Board listed companies. T-tests were done to determine whether a correlation exists between compliance with environmental accounting principles and fluctuations in share price. Results: 56 instances of upward trends and 80 instances of downward trends after one month followed announcements that included compliance to environmental accounting principles (one constant and one unknown). 52 instances of upward trends and 54 instances of downward trends after one year followed these announcements (30 unknown). 48 out of 336 listed companies (14%) announce environmental accounting principle compliance with their shareholders. More announcements referring to environmental accounting compliance were posted in 2012 and 2013 (n = 17 and n = 22 averaged for six months) compared to those in 2008 to 2011 (n = 9; n = 15; n = 14 and n = 15 averaged for six months). 56% of companies complying with environmental accounting principles are from the mining industry. 39.19% of principles complied with was within the diverse principle division. P-values derived from t-tests done to investigate correlations between share price and compliance with environmental accounting principles on various levels all revealed P-values of more than 0.25. Conclusions: No statistically significant correlation could be made between compliance with environmental accounting principles and fluctuations in share price. There is low divulgence of compliance practices to shareholders from mentioned companies. An upward trend for compliance with environmental accounting principles is noted during the past five years. The mining industry showed the greatest compliance with these principles when judged according to divulgence of compliance by means of announcements to their shareholders as well as when judged according to stance on the SRI Index. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

This study shows an economically significant relation between a firm’s environmental performance and its cost of debt. Firms that have poor environmental performance will face future environmental liabilities related to compliance and clean-up costs due to increasingly strict environmental laws and regulations. Under current U.S. law, environmental liabilities can impair the value of fixed assets, as environmental claims often take precedence over the claims of creditors. Thus, future environmental liabilities are of particular concern to creditors. Previous accounting research has shown that a firm’s market value of equity is significantly affected by its environmental performance. However, the same has yet to be shown for a firm’s cost of debt capital. This study focuses on a sample of U.S. pulp and paper firms. The results imply that the market applies an ‘environmental risk’ premium of thirty-eight basis points to the cost of debt capital for the average public firm in the U.S. pulp and paper industry, based on its environmental performance. Environmental performance is measured using the annual toxic release inventory of the United States Environmental Protection Agency. It is a measure of the amount of toxic chemicals released to land, air and water by a firm’s operating facilities. This paper adds to the literature, providing evidence that environmental performance is a value relevant measure with regards to creditors. Thus, recent calls in the United States for greater cooperation between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency should be addressed. These calls are for the reporting, on a firm-wide basis, of quantifiable data that is already required by the Environmental Protection Agency but is not typically available in detail in firms’ reports to investors.

This study shows an economically significant relation between a firm’s environmental performance and its cost of debt. Firms that have poor environmental performance will face future environmental liabilities related to compliance and clean-up costs due to increasingly strict environmental laws and regulations. Under current U.S. law, environmental liabilities can impair the value of fixed assets, as environmental claims often take precedence over the claims of creditors. Thus, future environmental liabilities are of particular concern to creditors. Previous accounting research has shown that a firm’s market value of equity is significantly affected by its environmental performance. However, the same has yet to be shown for a firm’s cost of debt capital. This study focuses on a sample of U.S. pulp and paper firms. The results imply that the market applies an ‘environmental risk’ premium of thirty-eight basis points to the cost of debt capital for the average public firm in the U.S. pulp and paper industry, based on its environmental performance. Environmental performance is measured using the annual toxic release inventory of the United States Environmental Protection Agency. It is a measure of the amount of toxic chemicals released to land, air and water by a firm’s operating facilities. This paper adds to the literature, providing evidence that environmental performance is a value relevant measure with regards to creditors. Thus, recent calls in the United States for greater cooperation between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency should be addressed. These calls are for the reporting, on a firm-wide basis, of quantifiable data that is already required by the Environmental Protection Agency but is not typically available in detail in firms’ reports to investors.

Abstract The resilience, or sustainability, of an environmental system depends on key factors remaining within critical thresholds. Current approaches to assessing the condition and trend of environmental systems rely on expert knowledge of system performance and subjective interpretation. Computer simulation models of natural resource systems offer a way to integrate system properties, and ecological theory and relationships, with long-term climate and rainfall information to simulate system performance within a consistent framework. Financial accounting methods, such as balance sheets and ratio analysis, have been developed to assess overall businesses viability and offer a potential tool for assessing the sustainability of natural systems, providing key accounting principles and assumptions can be reasonably met. This thesis explores the integration of accounting and ecological theory in a balance sheet framework for sustainability accounting using non-financial terms with a view to contributing to the sustainable management of natural resources within dynamic systems. A generic approach to constructing environmental balance sheets was developed and tested at a range of scales (field to catchment). Sensitivity analysis of the models was used to determine key factors and critical thresholds relating to system resilience. These values were then used to construct the balance sheets. The current ratio was then used to identify if the system was being managed sustainably. A current ratio (assets/liabilities) greater than 1.0, derived from the balance sheet, was shown to denote more resilient, and hence sustainable, systems. Case studies used were wheat cropping in the Maranoa area of Queensland, Australia, and the Bonogin Valley in the Gold Coast, Queensland Australia The same approach to constructing balance sheets worked across all scales from farm to catchment. . The approach was then used to develop a sustainability assessment of the Coomera catchment of the Gold Coast to consider how natural resource management and urbanisation is affecting catchment resilience. A series of models was used to develop the accounts: a grazing systems model – SGS; a cropping systems model - APSIM-sugar; and an existing catchment hydrology and water quality model - EMSS. The approach demonstrated that sugarcane cropping systems within the catchment were not likely to be sustainable without significant input of nitrogen, but that the grazing systems were. Furthermore, the overall catchment was likely to be sustainable (2002). This finding is consistent with an independent field-based assessment of the catchment conducted by the Healthy Waterways Partnership of South East Queensland. The urban development anticipated in the catchment by 2020, did not appear to have a significant affect as measured by long-term trends in flow frequency and water quality. The use of ratio analysis provided a dimensionless variable that related to the resilience of a parcel of land or catchment. These values were able to be spatially integrated, using an area weighted median, to provide an overall estimate of resilience of land use for a farm or a catchment. However, it was considered simpler to model the catchment of interest as a whole rather than to combine ratios from a series of catchment sub-models. The availability of appropriate comprehensive systems models may prove a limitation for application to all land uses especially native bushland systems. However, the approach developed in this thesis provides a robust and consistent framework for exploring system resilience and sustainability in a way that can augment existing approaches to natural resource assessments of condition and trend.

Cette thèse vise à répondre à la thèse de Gray (2010, p.48), selon laquelle il est rare, voire quasiment impossible de trouver des comptabilités environnementales notamment dans la perspective de la durabilité forte, c’est-à-dire d’un développement qui respecte les seuils physiques environnementaux caractérisant le niveau minimum du capital naturel à conserver. Elle montre que, contrairement à la vision pessimiste de Gray, on trouve dans le domaine agricole des exemples de comptabilité qui sont de véritables comptabilités environnementales répondant aux enjeux de la durabilité forte. Cette thèse montre aussi que l’agriculture est bien en avance par rapport aux autres secteurs de l’économie dans ce domaine de la comptabilité verte et de la responsabilité sociale. Elle s’appuie sur une étude des cas concrète au sein de la Bergerie Nationale de Rambouillet (France) avec une comparaison à celle d’une exploitation russe, la SA de type fermé « Selskie zori », et illustre ce que pourrait être une vraie pratique de comptabilité environnementale orientée vers une durabilité de type fort. Elle s’inscrit dans le prolongement de la recherche en comptabilité qui considère cette dernière comme une technique subjective dans le sens où elle est fonction d’un sujet qui a le pouvoir (Richard, 1980, 2012 ; Tinker et al., 1982 ; Cooper et Sherer, 1984 ; Tinker, 1984, 1985 ; Hopper et al., 1987 ; Cooper et al., 1989 ; Colasse, 1997, 2005, 2007 ; Christophe, 2000 ; Catchpowle et al., 2004 ; Antheaume et Christophe, 2005 ; Chiapello, 2012). / This thesis aims to respond to Gray’s proposition (2010, p.48) that it is rare, if not impossible to find accounting for sustainability, notably in the “strong” perspective of the term, that is to say the mode of development that respects physical thresholds characterizing the minimum level of natural capital to be preserved. The findings demonstrate that, contrary to the Gray’s pessimistic view, in agriculture, there are examples of accounting for sustainability that truly meet the challenges of strong sustainability. This thesis also shows that the agriculture sector is more advanced compared to other sectors in the economy regarding green accounting and social responsibility. The thesis is based on a comparative concrete case study of the Bergerie Nationale de Rambouillet (France) and a Russian farm, the closed type joint-stock company “Selskie zori”. It illustrates what could be a real practice of accounting for strong sustainability. This thesis is in line with researches that consider accounting as a subjective technique in that it depends on a subject that has the power (Richard, 1980, 2012 ; Tinker et al., 1982 ; Cooper et Sherer, 1984 ; Tinker, 1984, 1985 ; Hopper et al., 1987 ; Cooper et al., 1989 ; Colasse, 1997, 2005, 2007 ; Christophe, 2000 ; Catchpowle et al., 2004 ; Antheaume et Christophe, 2005 ; Chiapello, 2012).

New questions in a changing economy demands development of both contemporary and historical national accounts. One such question concerns economic and environmental relationships. From a national accounting perspective this issue has been approached in terms of environmental accounting. The aim of this study is to investigate how proposals for integrated environmental and economic accounting can be used for an extension of the Historical National Accounts for Sweden and for examining the long-term relationship between economic growth and environmental degradation and resource depletion. This issue is approached through methodological considerations and estimates of iron ore and timber depletion and discharge of pollutants. The conclusions are that it is possible to construct environmental historical national accounts, but that the lack of historical data and theoretical difficulties cause a high level of abstraction and other problems concerning the series. The empirical investigations show that the 19th century can be considered a period of depletion intensive growth. Furthermore, there seems to be evidence of a correlation between changes in the natural resource net prices and previous periodizations of Swedish economic development. Concerning pollutants, the analyses shows an increase of the aggregated discharges until the late 1960s. However, the pollution intensity of growth has fallen throughout the period, possibly in a pattern of long trend periods. / digitalisering@umu

Purpose This paper aims to propose and apply a novel risk-based approach to explore whether socio-political theories explain the level of corporate environmental disclosures given inconclusive evidence on the relation between environmental disclosure and environmental performance. Design/methodology/approach Based on content analysis of corporate risk reporting, the paper develops measures of environmental risk to proxy for a firm’s exposure to public pressure in regard to environmental concerns that should be positively associated with the level of corporate environmental disclosures according to socio-political theories. Multiple regressions are used to test the predictions of socio-political theories for US Standards and Poor’s 500 constituents from polluting sectors. Findings The level of environmental disclosures is found to be positively associated with a firm’s environmental risk while unrelated to its environmental performance. The findings suggest that firms tend to provide higher levels of environmental disclosures in response to greater exposure to public pressure as depicted by broad environmental indicators. The results are robust to alternative measures of environmental disclosures, environmental risk and environmental performance, alternative specifications of the economic model and additional sensitivity checks. Research limitations/implications This study is limited to US firms in polluting sectors. The risk-based approach proposed may not be appropriate to cover sectors where corporate risk reporting is less likely to address environmental risk, but it could potentially be adopted in other countries with advanced risk reporting regulation or practice. Practical implications Findings are important to understand a firm’s incentives to disclose environmental information. Cross-sectional differences found in environmental disclosures, risk and performance, highlight the importance of considering industry affiliation when analyzing environmental data. Originality/value This paper is the first to use firm-level environmental risk variables to explain the level of corporate environmental disclosures. The risk-based approach taken suggests opportunities for research at the multi-country level and in countries where corporate environmental performance data are not publicly available.

Les années récentes ont été marquées par le renforcement des réglementations en matière de diffusion de l’information sociale et environnementale. Cette thèse s’intéresse à l'information comptable à caractère environnemental (ICE) dans ce contexte en pleine évolution. Elle s’inscrit dans le cadre d’analyse de la théorie néo-institutionnelle et porte sur la notion de normativité. Trois études empiriques, traitant pour chacune d’elle une dimension du processus de diffusion de l’information sont menées. Elles sont toutes trois réalisées dans le cadre réglementaire français. Le premier article identifie comment les entreprises renseignent l’ICE et les stratégies qui en découlent face à la publication d'une nouvelle loi générale. À partir d’une analyse de contenu des rapports annuels de 96 sociétés cotées sur la période 2009-2014, les résultats montrent que l’introduction de la loi n’a pas favorisé une plus grande transparence dans l’ICE et l’on observe que les firmes qui y sont soumises choisissent différentes réponses. Le deuxième article se focalise sur les coulisses de ces stratégies de publication afin d'examiner la manière dont les producteurs de l’information s’organisent pour répondre aux règlementations auxquelles ils sont soumis. Les résultats d’une étude de 8 cas multiples montrent que deux stratégies distinctes apparaissent en fonction du type d'ICE. Le troisième article s’attache finalement à observer le comportement des utilisateurs de l’information financière en réaction aux stratégies de diffusion déployées par les entreprises. Nous observons l’évolution de leurs recommandations d’investissement et leurs perceptions quant à l’utilité perçue et la crédibilité accordée à l’ICE. À travers une étude expérimentale menée auprès de 145 participants, il s’avère que ces stratégies modifient la perception de l’utilité et de la crédibilité de cette information. L’ensemble de ces résultats contribue à la compréhension de la manière dont les entreprises (et les acteurs) développent des stratégies pour s’adapter à l’introduction de nouvelles réglementations. / Corporate environmental reporting is becoming more and more widespread and regulated. This dissertation specifically focuses on environmental accounting information (EAI) in this context. Our research draws on neo-institutional theory and concerns the concept of normativity. Three empirical studies, each dealing with one dimension of the information disclosure process, are conducted. They are all carried out in the French regulatory context. The first study examines how companies disclose EAI and the strategies adopted after the adoption of a new law. Based on a content analysis of the annual reports of 96 listed companies over the period 2009-2014, the results show that the law did not favor greater transparency in the EAI and we observe that companies choose different reponses to the law. The second study focuses on behind the scenes of these strategies to identify how producers of information organize themselves to respond to the regulations they are subject to. The results of 8 case studies show that two distinct strategies appear depending on the type of EAI. The third study focuses on the users of information behavior and how they react to the firms’ disclosure strategies. We consider the point of view of financial analysts by investigating the effect of firms’ EAI disclosure strategies on investment recommendations and perceptions of this item (as regards to both the relevance and credibility of information). Through an experimental study conducted with 145 participants, it turned out that these strategies modify both the perception of relevance and credibility of information. Overall, the dissertation contributes to our understanding of how companies (and actors) develop strategies to adapt to the introduction of new regulations.