Voluntary greenhouse gas emission disclosure impacts on accounting-based performance: Australian evidence

Borghei, Z; Leung, P; Guthrie, J

Voluntary greenhouse gas emission disclosure impacts on accounting-based performance: Australian evidence

Borghei, Z Leung, P Guthrie, J

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Australasian Journal of Environmental Management, 2018, 25 (3), pp. 321 - 338
Issue Date:: 2018-07-03

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Borghei, Z	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Leung, P	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Guthrie, J	en_US
dc.date.issued	2018-07-03	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Australasian Journal of Environmental Management, 2018, 25 (3), pp. 321 - 338	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	1448-6563	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/131413
dc.description.abstract	© 2018, © 2018 Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand Inc. Using a cost-benefit framework, this research examines the impact of voluntary greenhouse gas (GHG) disclosure on accounting-based performance. Previous studies suggest that the implementation of carbon management and reporting may be associated with the improvement of accounting-based performance by the identification of cost savings opportunities or the introduction of innovation opportunities in products and services. This study is the first that applies several proxies of accounting-based performance, such as, return on assets, return on equity and return on sales, to empirically examine the association between voluntary GHG disclosure by non-GHG registered Australian companies and accounting-based performance. The level of GHG disclosure is scored through content analysis of the annual reports of sample organisations for the financial years 2009 to 2011. This research highlights that GHG disclosure is positively associated with ROA in the year following disclosure. The findings are consistent with the predictions of the cost-benefit framework. It indicates that companies bear the extra voluntary disclosure costs to gain the perceived benefits of voluntary disclosure. Our findings are useful for organisations and stakeholders who are concerned about the cost-benefit of voluntary carbon disclosure.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Australasian Journal of Environmental Management	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1080/14486563.2018.1466204	en_US
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess
dc.subject.classification	Environmental Sciences	en_US
dc.title	Voluntary greenhouse gas emission disclosure impacts on accounting-based performance: Australian evidence	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	3	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	25	en_US
utslib.for	16 Studies in Human Society	en_US
utslib.for	05 Environmental Sciences	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology/School of Information, Systems and Modelling
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access	*
pubs.issue	3	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	25	en_US

Abstract:

© 2018, © 2018 Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand Inc. Using a cost-benefit framework, this research examines the impact of voluntary greenhouse gas (GHG) disclosure on accounting-based performance. Previous studies suggest that the implementation of carbon management and reporting may be associated with the improvement of accounting-based performance by the identification of cost savings opportunities or the introduction of innovation opportunities in products and services. This study is the first that applies several proxies of accounting-based performance, such as, return on assets, return on equity and return on sales, to empirically examine the association between voluntary GHG disclosure by non-GHG registered Australian companies and accounting-based performance. The level of GHG disclosure is scored through content analysis of the annual reports of sample organisations for the financial years 2009 to 2011. This research highlights that GHG disclosure is positively associated with ROA in the year following disclosure. The findings are consistent with the predictions of the cost-benefit framework. It indicates that companies bear the extra voluntary disclosure costs to gain the perceived benefits of voluntary disclosure. Our findings are useful for organisations and stakeholders who are concerned about the cost-benefit of voluntary carbon disclosure.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/131413