De flesta forskare är överens att den mänskliga påverkan på klimatet i form av växthusgaser är ett faktum. För att minska den mänskliga påverkan har ett system med utsläppsrätter för att reglera utsläppen införts. Tanken är att utsläppen ska minskas successivt av alla inblandade och att detta ska redovisas inom varje land i särskilda rapporter. Inom redovisningen av företags finansiella status såsom årsredovisningar finns det i dagsläget ingen reglering som styr om och hur dessa utsläppsrätter ska redovisas. IASB utreder redovisningspraxis för att kartlägga vilka metoder som används. Genom denna kartläggning undersöker de om det är genomförbart att ge ut finansiella rapporteringskrav för ett potentiellt stort antal system och förbättra jämförbarheten. Liknande studie har gjorts i Europa av PwC och IETA år 2007. Denna studie behandlar hur företag i Sverige valt att redovisa sina utsläppsrätter. En genomgång av de 267 företag som omfattas av handelssystemet för utsläppsrätter i Sverige och innehållsanalys av deras årsredovisningar för år 2014 har gjorts. Därefter har strax över 20 procent av företagen granskats ytterligare för att utreda varför företagen valt att redovisa sina utsläppsrätter på visst sätt. Den insamlade data har sedan analyserats mot tidigare forskning och finansiella redovisningsteorier som behandlar oreglerade finansiell rapportering. Det som har framkommit i studien är att av de företag i Sverige som redovisar utsläppsrätter, redovisar de flesta sina utsläppsrätter framförallt som immateriella tillgångar eller omsättningstillgångar. Tidigare forskning ihop med teorierna kan förklara dessa val av redovisningspraxis som ett nationellt mönster som förmodat skapats i brist på internationell vägledning och med grund i IFRIC 3 för de av företagen som redovisat sina utsläppsrätter som immateriella tillgångar. De utav företagen som har valt att redovisa sina utsläppsrätter som omsättningstillgångar kan förklaras av avsikten med utsläppsrätterna. I studien uppmärksammas även de företag som valt att inte redovisa sina utsläppsrätter som valt att ha upplysningar som beskriver deras utsläpp på annat vis. Företags val av redovisningsmetod av utsläppsrätter förklaras av institutionell teori för företag som redovisat sina utsläppsrätter som immateriella tillgångar och som en överlappning mellan intressentteorin och legitimitetsteorin för de företag som inte redovisar sina utsläppsrätter men har upplysningar om utsläpp. Studiens resultat påvisar både skillnader och likheter med tidigare undersökning av hur stora företag i EU redovisar sina utsläppsrätter och kan därför påvisa att IASB torde kunna utge finansiella rapporteringskrav av utsläppsrätter som redan stämmer överens med redovisningspraxis idag. Detta behöver dock undersökas vidare för att kunna generaliseras till alla länder som omfattas av EU ETS. / Most scientist agree that human influence on the climate in terms of greenhouse gas emissions is a fact. To reduce the human impact, a system of emission rights to regulate emission have been introduced. The idea is that emissions should be reduced gradually by all involved entities and that this should be recognized in every country in special reports. In recognition of the company’s financial status, such as annual reports, there is currently no state regulations governing whether and how there emission rights should be reported. IASB is investigating accounting practices to identify the methods used. Through this survey they try to identify the feasibility of issuing financial reporting requirements for a potentially large number of systems and improve comparability. Similar studies have been made in Europe by PwC and IETA in 2007. This study discusses how companies in Sweden chosen to report their emission rights. A review of the 267 companies covered by the emission trading scheme in Sweden and content analysis of their financial statements for 2014 have been made. Subsequently about 20 percent of the companies have been further examined to determine why companies have chosen to report their emission rights in a certain way. The collected data were analyzed against past research and financial accounting theory such as unregulated financial reporting theory. What has been found in this study is that among companies in Sweden that do report their emission rights, the majority reported their allowances primarily as intangible assets or current assets. Previous research together with the theories can explain the choice of accounting practices as a national pattern that supposedly been created by a lack of international guidance and due to IFRIC 3 for those companies that reported their emission rights as intangible assets. Those companies that have chosen to report their emission rights as current assets can be explained by the intent of the allowances. The study also addresses the companies that have chosen not to declare their allowances and have chosen to have disclosures that describes their emission in other ways. Companies’ choice of accounting method of allowances is explained by institutional theory for the companies that reported their emission rights as intangible assets and an overlap between stakeholder theory and legitimacy theory for companies that do not report their emission rights but have emission disclosures. The study’s results demonstrate both similarities and differences with the precious survey of how large entities in the EU report their emission right and could thereby demonstrate that the IASB should be able to issue financial reporting requirements of allowances that already is consistent with the accounting practices today. This needs to be investigated further in order to be generalized to all countries covered by the EU ETS.

Bakgrund: OECD har tillsammans med G20-länderna beslutat att koncerner skall skatterapportera i enlighet med ett nytt underlag utifrån en ny lagstiftning, som heter Country-By-Country-rapportering (CbCr). Detta innebär att företagen skall börja rapportera bland annat betald skatt och sina anställda per jurisdiktion där företaget verkar och på så vis kommer en ökad transparens inom skatteredovisning att ske. Ur myndigheters synpunkt är detta en ändring mot det positiva, men frågan blir vad företagen och dess koncernskattechefer anser om denna ändring i skatteraportering. Syfte: Uppsatsens syfte är att identifiera och beskriva koncernskattechefers attityder till en ny lagstiftning som ändrar dagens skatterapportering genom CbCr som leder till en ökad transparens i skatteredovisningen, samt att se vad som påverkar identifierad attityd. Denna studie kommer att bidra genom att ge ett empiriskt underlag som öppnar för framtida forskning kring attityder hos koncernskattechefer vid den ökade transparensen i skatteredovisning. Studien ger också ett kunskapsunderlag för statliga myndigheter, i synnerhet skattemyndigheter, och för berörda koncerner samt svenskt näringsliv. Metod: Genom en kvalitativ metod med  intervjuer av koncernskattechefer hos 8 stora koncerner samt skatteverket har empiriskt material samlats in som leder till en vidare analys och slutsats. Slutsats: De mest framträdande resultaten i denna uppsats har varit att en del koncernskattechefer ser samband mellan skatt och socialt ansvar och är därmed positiva till implementeringen eftersom det kommer att stärka det sociala kontraktet. Andra koncernskattechefer ser risker med CbCr och ökade kostnader och därmed minskade incitamentsersättningar och har en negativ attityd till en ökad transparens i skatteredovisningen. / Background: A decision made by OECD, together with G20-countries says that Corporate Groups shall report report tax according to new guideline, called Country-By-Country-reporting. This means that corporate groups for example will report tax paid per jurisdiction and therefore will the tax transparency be increased. According to  authorities, the new implementation is positive but the question is whether the corporate groups and their corporate group tax managers will be positive or not. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify and explain attitudes of tax managers when a new legislation changes today´s tax reporting in the form of a CbC-report which will increase transparency in the tax reporting, and what elements are behind these identified attitudes.This study will contribute by giving an empirical material thats opens to further research about corporate group tax managers attitudes with increased tax transparency. The study also gives better knowledge for public authorities, particularly the tax authority and to concerned corporate groups. Method: Through a qualitative method with interviews with corporate group tax managers with 8 large corporate groups and tax authorities, empirical material has been gathered, which leads to further analysis and a conclusion. Conclusion: The most prominent results in this essay has been the fact that some corporate group tax managers sees the connection between tax and social responsibility and therefor are positive to the implementation because it will strengthen the social contract.Other corporate group tax managers sees the hazards with CbCr and appurtenant costs and therefor decreased incentive compensation. These corporate group tax managers have a negative attitudes towards an increased tax transparency.

In today’s society it is more common for industries to automate their businesses and more people are in need of electricity. Therefore, a stable and reliable supply of electricity is needed. When more people need electricity, it affects the liability of the powerlines which leads to more losses. Producers can be a part of the solution by producing closer to the consumers. When doing so they have the right to compensation from the electrical companies for the utility they bring. However, the compensation lacks clear guidelines of how it should be calculated. To develop a common ground for the electrical companies they can use when calculating the compensation is therefore needed. The purpose of this thesis is to contribute with an understanding of which factors that are necessary for the compensation and how they can help develop a business model for the compensation which supports both the environment and the energy policy to 100% renewable energy in electricity generation by 2040. The study originates from a qualitative method where systematic combining was used. A case study with semi-structured interviews and analysis of documents was conducted at E.ON Energy Networks. Since the compensation has not been studied as deeply before and many lack knowledge of what it means, this study created a foundation for the electricity companies to stand on when it comes to the compensation. The study resulted in several factors that consist of both tangible and intangible values. Through these factors, the foundation of a business model for the compensation could be created via a Business Model Canvas. The views of various stakeholders were considered in the development of the business model. The most important factors for the compensation were that it should be fair, transparent, clear and easy to understand. It also proved to be essential to involve a sustainable thinking, which led to two additional factors being constructed, one environmental factor and one factor for lack of capacity. / I dagens samhälle krävs en stabil och pålitlig elförsörjning då allt fler vill ha tillgång till el och industrier vill automatisera sina verksamheter. Detta påverkar elnätets belastning vilket leder till mer förluster i nätet. Producenter kan vara med och influera detta genom att producera energi närmare konsumenterna. För detta fås en ersättning från elnätsbolagen för den nyttan som producenterna bidrar med. Ersättningen saknar dock tydliga riktlinjer på hur den ska beräknas och betalas ut. Det finns därför ett behov av att utveckla en gemensam grund som elnätsbolagen kan använda sig av vid framtagning av ersättningen. Syftet med denna studie är att bidra till att ta fram vilka faktorer som är relevanta för ersättningen och hur dessa kan hjälpa till i utvecklandet av en affärsmodell för ersättningen som både gynnar en hållbar utveckling och energiomställningen. Studien utgår från en kvalitativ metod där undersökningsprocessen var systematic combining. En fallstudie genomfördes på E.ON Energidistribution genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer och analys av dokument. Eftersom ersättningen inte har studerats lika djupt tidigare och många saknar kunskap om vad den innebär, skapade denna studie en grund att stå på för elnätsbolagen när det gäller ersättningen. Studien resulterade i ett antal faktorer som består av både mjuka och hårda värden. Genom dessa faktorer kunde grunden till en affärsmodell för ersättningen skapas via en Business Model Canvas. Olika intressenters åsikter togs i beaktning vid utvecklingen av affärsmodellen. De viktigaste faktorerna för ersättningen var att den ska vara rättvis, transparent, tydlig och enkel att förstå. De visade sig även vara betydelsefullt att involvera ett hållbarhetstänk, vilket har lett till att två tillägg har konstruerats, ett miljötillägg och ett kapacitetsbristtillägg.

Syftet med denna studie är uppdelat i två aspekter. För det första avser vi bidra till kunskapsutveckling genom att observera och presentera vilka incitament som kan finnas bakom kommunicerande av intellektuellt kapital (IK) utifrån IT-företags rapportering av IK genom årsredovisningen. För det andra avser vi att genom vår studie ge ett metodbidrag till forskningen på IK-området genom att visa hur kategorisering med hjälp av ett flerdimensionellt analysverktyg kan användas, tillsammans med olika teoretiska perspektiv, för att analysera hur incitament för rapportering av IK reflekteras i IT-företags årsredovisningar.Studien har utförts genom att empiriskt material från årsredovisningar har kategoriserats utifrån en nyskapad modell bestående av fyra huvudkategorier med vardera fyra underkategorier. Modellen är starkt influerad av Sveiby (1997) och Meritum Project (2002) men utgörs totalt sett av en syntes av ett antal olika modeller och teorier från forskare inom IK-området, med vissa externa influenser. Det kategoriserade empiriska materialet har sedan analyserats utifrån fyra teoretiska analysperspektiv. Dessa fyra perspektiv är intressentteorin, legitimitetsteorin, signalteorin och IC disclosure motivations. Studien är utformad som en kvalitativ innehållsanalys och empirisk data i studien utgörs av årsredovisningar från åtta bolag i IT-branschen listade på marknadsplatsen Nasdaq OMX Nordic Stockholm (Stockholmsbörsen).Resultatet av studien visar att det kan finnas olika incitament för företag att kommunicera sitt IK genom årsredovisningen beroende på vilken teori som används som analysperspektiv. När det gäller intressentteorin kan företagens incitament i stor utsträckning ta sin utgångspunkt i intresset att kunna bedöma företagets risknivå. Utifrån legitimitetsteorin skulle ett incitament bakom rapportering kunna vara att visa att företaget använder sina resurser på ett effektivt och ansvarsfullt sätt. Signalteorin kan erbjuda en möjlighet för företagen att skicka positiva signaler till marknaden även om önskan att inte lämna för mycket information till konkurrenter kan sätta vissa begränsningar. Utifrån modellen för IC disclosure motivations förefaller företagen ha incitament att använda kommunikationen av IK genom årsredovisningen som ett medel för att bland annat stärka sina varumärkens position bland sina intressenter. / Program: Civilekonomprogrammet

Miljömedvetenhet är ett begrepp som används flitigt idag både i företagsvärlden och privat. Detta har lett till att kundernas medvetenhet om miljön och det sociala ansvaret har ökat och de ställer allt högre krav på företagens produkter och tjänster.Allt eftersom de bildas nya moderna företag ökar konkurrensen och många företag väljer att lägga stora resurser inom hållbar utveckling för att uppnå konkurrensfördelar. För att företagen ska kunna kommunicera sitt miljöansvar till omvärlden skapar dem en hållbarhetsredovisning där dem talar om sitt ansvar för omvärlden. De tre vanligaste ansvaren som man finner i en hållbarhetsredovisning är det sociala ansvaret, det ekonomiska ansvaret och miljöansvaret.Hur en hållbarhetsredovisning ska utformas är frivilligt och variationen gör att det kan bli svårt för ett otränat öga att tolka och jämföra informationen Vi tror att en stor del till variationen inom hållbarhetsredovisning är att företagen väljer att rikta sig till olika intressenter som dem finner intressanta för bolaget.Syftet med denna uppsats är att granska och tolka hållbarhetsredovisningarna från nordens tre största flygbolag; SAS, Norwegian Airlines och Finnair för att få svar på frågan till vem deras hållbarhetsredovisning är skriven.För att uppnå vårt syfte med uppsatsen har vi kopplat den information vi fått från bolagens hållbarhetsredovisningar till olika teorier för att skapa oss en uppfattning om företagen. Vi har då kommit fram till att bolagens hållbarhetsredovisningar lägger fokus och riktar sig till olika intressenter. En anledning till detta kan vara att det inte finns ett internationellt ramverk för hur hållbarhetsrapporterna skall se ut, att det är företagets egna ambitioner för hur mycket resurser de vill lägga ner på forskning och utveckling.

This thesis challenges two key assumptions made in the current Islamic banking literature. Firstly, this thesis challenges and empirically invalidates the assumption that all Islamic banks are indistinguishable from their conventional counterparts and are thus equally unIslamic. To do so, this thesis uses the profit and loss sharing (PLS) criteria, which is central to the philosophy of Islamic banking and is the key principle differentiating Islamic from conventional banking, in theory and practice. By investigating variation in PLS levels between Islamic banks and comparing with conventional banks with and without Islamic windows, this thesis illustrates that the Islamic banking industry does not comprise a homogeneous group of banks that are all indistinguishable from their conventional counterparts. Rather, a typology of Islamic banks exists, comprising of three distinct groups of banks, each one following a different business model. While one group can genuinely be considered indistinguishable from conventional banks, another group shows clear evidence of pursuing PLS-oriented strategies in formulating its asset portfolio, differentiating itself from the purely debt-based intermediation model adopted by conventional banks. As such, empirical evidence shows that some Islamic banks are, in practice, operating closer to the PLS principle and can thus be considered more Islamic than others. Further investigation illustrates that the institutional environment matters for the provision of ideal PLS Islamic financing instruments. Secondly, this thesis overcomes two methodological issues to compare the corporate social performance (CSP) of Islamic and conventional banks. In doing so, this thesis challenges the second identified assumption from the literature, that religion-specific category of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is particular to Islamic banking, and invalidates it on conceptual, theoretical and empirical basis. A novel CSP Index based on the evidence-based disclosure criteria, comprising of 6 dimensions and 25 social performance indicators is constructed and complemented with three Social Performance Quantitative Indicators (SPQIs) to compare the CSP of Islamic and conventional banks. From this comparison, this thesis concludes that, contrary to the industry s claims and expectations held of it, Islamic banking does not offer an ethical alternative to conventional banking. Differences in the level and composition of CSP between the two industries are more subtle and require a nuanced approach to be studied.

Submitted by Silvana Teresinha Dornelles Studzinski (sstudzinski) on 2017-03-03T16:02:51Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Rosane Maria Seibert_.pdf: 1131921 bytes, checksum: 737aef3017f39beac30ed6354cbe9c9b (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-03-03T16:02:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Rosane Maria Seibert_.pdf: 1131921 bytes, checksum: 737aef3017f39beac30ed6354cbe9c9b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-01-11 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Este estudo objetiva explicar a evidenciação da responsabilidade social em termos dos seus determinantes. As explicações buscam suporte na teoria da legitimidade estabelecida como apropriado fundamento teórico para a evidenciação da responsabilidade social. A ideia central da tese é que a evidenciação da responsabilidade social é uma função da assimetria da informação e consequente pressão social dos públicos de interesse das Instituições de Ensino Superior Filantrópicas (IESFs), preocupados com a sua responsabilidade social. As IESFs, dado algumas características ambientais, podem sofrer pressão social por transparência e prestação de contas de sua responsabilidade social. Estas características podem determinar o nível de evidenciação das IESFs. Aquelas mais complexas, mais diversificadas, que sofrem maior cobertura da mídia, que se localizam em determinadas regiões do país, que se configuram como comunitárias e ou confessionais, que tem mais qualidade, que tem os maiores conselhos universitários e ou que tem outros conselhos e comitês na sua estrutura de governança, bem como as maiores, mais alavancadas e com os menores resultados econômicos, devem evidenciar em maior extensão a sua responsabilidade social. O estudo iniciou com a criação de uma relação de indicadores de informações quantitativas e qualitativas, representativos de responsabilidade social, que foram observados nas páginas eletrônicas de Internet de IESFs. Essa atividade se desenvolveu em seis fases: sistematização dos indicadores; avaliação dos indicadores; validação dos indicadores; revisão da relação dos indicadores; reavaliação dos indicadores; e refinamento da pesquisa feito na Durham University no Reino Unido. Na sequência, com a relação de indicadores, verificou-se a extensão da evidenciação e se criou os índices de evidenciação da responsabilidade social das IESFs. A partir desses índices e das variáveis explicativas criadas para cada uma das características ambientais, possíveis determinantes da extensão da evidenciação da responsabilidade social, definiram-se os modelos econométricos da pesquisa. Depois, realizou-se os testes de regressão linear múltipla pelo método dos mínimos quadrados ordinários e outros testes complementares para identificar os determinantes da extensão da evidenciação. Os resultados empíricos suportam que a teoria da legitimidade é um fundamento teórico para a evidenciação da responsabilidade social das IESFs. As hipóteses relativas à complexidade, à diversificação, ao fator regional, ao evento específico – comunitárias, à qualidade das IESFs, ao tamanho e à alavancagem das mantenedoras das IESFs não rejeitam esse suporte. Assim, a tese contribui para a lacuna na literatura empírica sobre os determinantes da extensão da evidenciação de IESFs e evidenciação de informações representativas de responsabilidade social a partir dos interesses dos públicos específicos. Também contribui com uma relação de informações que podem nortear legisladores e organismos reguladores dessas organizações, bem como as próprias IESFs, em termos de evidenciação de sua responsabilidade social para atender aos interesses dos públicos que as legitimam. / This study aims to explain the evidence of social responsibility in terms of its determinants. Explanations seek support in the legitimacy theory established as an appropriate theoretical foundation for the social responsibility disclosure. The main idea of the thesis is that the social responsibility disclosure is a function of the information asymmetry and consequent social pressure on Philanthropic Institutions of Higher Education (PIHEs) by the stakeholders, concerned with their social responsibility. PIHEs, given some environmental characteristics, may experience social pressure because of the transparency and accountability of their social responsibility. These characteristics can determine the PIHEs disclosure level. Those that are more complex; more diversified; that suffer more media coverage; that are located in certain regions of the country; that are configured as communitary and / or confessional; that has more quality; that has the majors university councils and or that it has other councils and committees in their governance structure. As well as the larger ones, more leveraged and with the lower economic results, should show their social responsibility largely. The study began with the creation of an indicators list of quantitative and qualitative information, social responsibility representative, which were observed in the PIHEs Internet pages. This activity was developed in six phases: indicators systematization; indicators evaluation; indicators validation; review of the indicators; indicators reassessment; and refinement of research done at Durham University in the UK. Following, with the indicators list, the disclosure extent was verified and the PIHEs social responsibility disclosure indices were created. From these indices and the explanatory variables created for each of the environmental characteristics, which are possible determinants of the social responsibility disclosure extent, were defined the econometric models of the research. Then, the multiple linear regression tests were performed by the ordinary least squares method and other complementary tests to identify the disclosure extent determinants. The empirical results support that the legitimacy theory is a theoretical basis for the PIHEs social responsibility disclosure. The hypotheses regarding complexity, diversification, regional factor, specific event - community, the PIHEs quality, the PIHEs maintainers’ size and leverage do not reject this support. Therefore, the thesis contributes to the gap in the empirical literature on the determinants of the PIHEs disclosure extension and the representative information of social responsibility disclosure based on the interests of stakeholders. It also contributes with an information list that can guide legislators and regulators of these organizations, as well as the IHEPs themselves, in terms of disclosing their social responsibility to serve the interests of the stakeholders that legitimize them.

Problem formulation: The awareness and importance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is growing within both corporations and society at large. The corporate progress in sustainable development can be both profitable and essential for the potential to compete globally. The value of sustainability reporting may differ between industries and companies of different sizes. The demands for sustainability reports are expected to increase. By 2010, no previous survey on sustainability reporting practices had been conducted within Swedish corporations.  Purpose: The aim of the current study was to examine sustainability reports within Swedish corporations during 2010 and to compare the findings with preceding surveys to determine differences over time and between corporations. Furthermore, the study seeks to explain the determinants of voluntary sustainability reporting utilising a multi-theoretical framework. Method: This survey includes all 125 Swedish corporations listed at the Stockholm Stock Exchange Large Cap and Mid Cap lists. Data was collected from the corporations annual and sustainability reports. Excel was used to code and analyse the obtained data. Results: The findings demonstrate that sustainability reporting is common practice among Swedish corporations. Taken together, the number of sustainability reports, the development and the presentation format indicates a high sustainability performance in general among the sampled companies. The findings found clear difference between industries and between companies of different sizes. Companies operating in high environmental risk industries as well as larger corporations scored higher on all variables of interest compared to companies operating in low environmental risk industries and smaller sized companies. Factors that have the potential to determine a company´s sustainability development practices were found to be its stakeholders and the type of institution it operates within. Moreover, the demand for legitimacy carries the potential to determine sustainability reporting practices. Companies operating in high environmental risk industries experiences a greater need for legitimacy and large companies has a greater number of stakeholders to consider. The findings indicate that sustainability reporting continues to increase and furthermore that standard practices is becoming increasingly widespread.

Revisorns oberoende är en ständigt omdiskuterad fråga och ämnet verkar aldrig gå ur tiden, detta då massmedia ständigt florerar med spekulationer om jävsituationer mellan företag och revisorer. Syftet med denna studie är att skapa förståelse för hur revisorer och dess klienter resonerar kring oberoende och beroende. För att studera denna komplexa fråga har vi genomfört elva personliga intervjuer, fem intervjuer med auktoriserade eller godkända revisorer och sex intervjuer med revisionsklienter. I studien har vi analyserat hur revisorer och klienter resonerar kring revisorns oberoende samt vad parterna anser är viktigt i deras förhållande till varandra. Utfallet av studien pekar på att både revisorerna och klienterna tänker och arbetar aktivt för att upprätthålla sitt anseende, det vill säga sin legitimitet. För revisorernas del uppnås legitimitet genom att de ständigt beaktar hot mot sin objektivitet och på så sätt säkerställer sitt oberoende. Detta leder till att de kan fungera som ett kontrollorgan för klienternas finansiella rapporter. Studien visar även att utifrån klientens perspektiv är det viktigt att revisorn fungerar som en oberoende tredje part eftersom det ger bolagets finansiella rapporter en ”kvalitetsstämpel”. Studien är relevant då den bidrar med en förståelse för vad som är viktigt i relationen mellan revisor och klient. / Auditor independence is an intensely debated issue, the topic never go out of time when the media are constantly rife with speculation about a conflict of interest between the company and the auditors. The purpose of this study was to create an understanding of how auditors and its clients reason about independent and dependency. To study this complex issue, we have completed eleven personal interviews, five interviews were with authorized or approved auditors and six interviews were with audit clients. In this study we analyzed how auditors and clients reasoning about auditor independence and what they consider important in their relationship to each other. The outcome of this study indicates that both auditors and clients think and work actively to maintain its reputation, videlicet their legitimacy. From the perspective of the auditors, they achieved legitimacy by ensuring theirs independence by staying objective. This means that they can function as a control for the client's financial statements. From the perspective of the clients, it is important that the auditor acts as an independent third party, it gives the company's financial reports, a "quality label". The study is relevant as a contribution to an understanding what´s important in the relationship between auditor and client.

Society is increasingly calling for organisations to demonstrate corporate social responsibility (CSR). To fulfil this demand, organisations need to be accountable, democratic and transparent to their stakeholders. This can be achieved using a number of tools including communication about the environmental, social and economic impacts of an organisation’s actions and activities. Yet despite the importance of communicating environmental information, and society’s heightened environmental awareness, organisations are still demonstrating an insufficient commitment to environmental reporting, continuing their reluctance to be open and accountable about their environmental impacts. This suggests organisations currently have little understanding of why they should report, what they should report and/or how they should report. For environmental reporting progress to be achieved it is important that we have knowledge of how various factors influence voluntary environmental reporting engagement. This research, in contributing to and extending the body of environmental reporting knowledge, aims to provide an understanding of the Why, What and How of voluntary environmental reporting by specifically examining: why organisations should, and why organisations do, voluntarily report environmental information; what environmental information organisations should, and what environmental information organisations do, voluntarily report; and how organisations should, and how organisations do, voluntarily report environmental information. In using a combination of research methodologies this research extends prior CSR reporting studies – closing the gap between voluntary environmental reporting practice and theory, providing better insights into the underlying reasons and motivations for voluntary environmental reporting, and providing improved knowledge of the considerations made by companies as part of the voluntary environmental reporting process. In doing so, this research presents a more recent examination of voluntary environmental reporting in the annual reports of New Zealand and Australian publicly listed companies. Aspects of voluntary environmental reporting that have not been extensively examined before, particularly in Australasia, are examined. These include a focus on content-quality (as opposed to reporting quantity), an investigation of the effect of public pressure (using a combination of three proxy measures), and, through the use of qualitative research, an expansion of the insights obtained from quantitative data. This research finds that New Zealand and Australian publicly listed companies continue to have an insufficient and incorrect understanding of why they should report, what they should report and/or how they should voluntarily report environmental information. This deficient understanding results in voluntary environmental reporting in their annual reports which is inadequate – the reporting lacks meaning and purpose (i.e. has form but little or no substance), and reflects managers’ incorrect perceptions about the environmental impact of their company’s actions and activities. As a result voluntary environmental reporting in the annual reports of New Zealand and Australian publicly listed companies fails to “… give an understanding, which is not misleading, …” of the environmental consequences of an organisation’s actions and activities (adapted from Alexander & Jermakowicz, 2006, p. 132), providing little accountability to stakeholders, and serving neither external stakeholders nor those reporting well. As the demand for organisations to demonstrate accountability to stakeholders continues to increase over time it is important to develop informed environmental reporting guidance and undertake further examinations of the Why, What and How of environmental reporting.