Compliance with Mandatory Environmental Reporting in Financial Statements: The Case of Spain (2001–2003)

Corporate, Social, Ethical and Environmental Reporting (SEER) should ideally discharge the accountability of an organisation to its stakeholders. Voluntary reporting has been characterised by a dearth of neutral and objective information such that the advocates of SEER recommend that it be made compulsory. Their underlying rationale is that legally specified disclosure requirements and enforcement mechanisms will enhance the quality of such reporting. This paper sets out to explore how realistic this scenario actually is, in view of the conflicting interpretations in the literature on this subject. To that end, a survey of the reporting patterns of 78 of the largest Spanish companies between 2001 and 2003 examines the extent of their compliance with the ICAC-2002 standard, which obliged them to make environmental disclosures in their financial statements. The results suggest that progressive and improved regulation could increase the volume and quality of SEER disclosures. They also suggest, however, that persistent non-compliance means that the problems associated with voluntary disclosure still exist. Finally, through an impression management perspective, the study reveals, the diverse strategies, ranging from dismissal to concealment, that are employed by companies to avoid transparency. As regulation improves and enforcement expectations rise, it becomes more difficult to dismiss compulsory reporting norms. As a result, some firms engage in more complex concealment strategies to attain corporate legitimacy, depriving stakeholders of regulatory information. The latter point serves to reconcile apparently contradictory explanations in the literature as to whether legitimacy theory might explain partial compliance with SEER regulation. Irene Criado-Jiménez is a Doctoral Candidate at the Departamento de Economía y Administración de Empresas, Universidad de Burgos. Her research interests include accounting for sustainable development and corporate accountability. Manuel Fernández-Chulián is a Doctoral Candidate at the Departamento de Economía y Administración de Empresas, Universidad de Burgos. His research interests include sustainability reporting and full cost accounting. Francisco Javier Husillos-Carqués is Assistant at the Departamento de Gestión de Empresas, Universidad Pública de Navarra and a Doctoral Candidate at the Universidad de Burgos. His research interests include social and environmental reporting and environmental management. Carlos Larrinage-González is Associate Professor at the Departamento de Economía y Administración de Empresas, Universidad de Burgos. His research interests include social and environmental accounting. He writes for interdisciplinary journals in accounting. He has co-edited special issues in European Accounting Review and Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal and currently is an Associate Editor of the Revista de Contabilidad-Spanish Accounting Review.     

论战略管理会计对传统管理会计的突破

战略管理会计是一支新兴的会计学分支学科,较之传统管理会计有着进一步的发展。即战略管理会计是外向型的信息系统;战略管理会计着眼于企业的长远目标和整体利益;战略管理会计提供了与战略管理相关的多样化信息;战略管理会计对管理会计人员的职能和素质提出了更高的要求;战略管理会计是一种全面性、综合性的风险管理;战略管理会计采用战略性的业绩评价。     

企业国际化与环境会计信息披露

国际化战略是企业产品与服务在本土之外的发展战略,是企业优化资源配置、赢得持续竞争能力的有效制度安排。随着全球环境问题的日益严重,环境管理机制成为企业国际化进程中获取合法性的重要内容之一,环境会计信息披露制度对于促进企业自觉履行环境保护责任、降低环境事项风险至关重要。本文以2008年沪市重污染行业上市公司为例,分析企业国际化程度与环境会计信息披露的关系,提出企业国际化与环境会计信息披露显著正相关,并对这一结论的政策含义进行了阐述。     

在我国推行物质流成本会计遇到的问题和建议

物质流成本会计（MFCA）是环境管理会计的一个分支，是一种新兴的会计核算和管理方法，它可以实现企业经营和环境保护的有机结合，此方法在德国一经提出，使得到国际社会的认同，随后在日本得到广泛应用。本文对MFCA在国内外发展过程、基本理论及与传统会计对比进行介绍，通过对企业调查推行MFCA过程中遇到的问题进行分析，得出我国推行MFCA的几点建议。     

The path of lease resistance: How changes to lease accounting treatment may impact your business

In this installment of Accounting Matters, we examine potential consequences of the Financial Accounting Standards Board's Proposed Accounting Standards Updates for Leases. In the context of a previous accounting change (FIN 48), we investigate how these changes will affect firms’ accounting choices, investment decisions, debt covenant requirements, and analysis of other key financial data. Changes in accounting standards may have significant indirect economic effect on companies as they can trigger debt covenant violations, restrict access to capital, and distort key financial information used by investors and lenders. New accounting standards may also directly affect the calculation of employee bonuses and incentives that utilize EBITDA or operating income as benchmarks. We include recommendations for managers and identify specific debt covenant components that may limit the negative consequences of the proposed change to lease accounting.     

Disclosure of Corporate Environmental Policies in Annual Reports: Further Evidence Incorporating a National Ideology–An Australian Study

ABSTRACT

During the last decade, there has been a growing awareness at a community level and, more recently, at a business level of a changing emphasis on the disclosure of environmental performance by Australian public companies. Over the last few years, many studies have been undertaken which have examined the disclosure of environmental information by analyzing public company Annual Reports in Australia. Previously, public companies preferred to prepare Corporate Environmental Policy (CEP) statements for internal use only rather than for external reporting (Tilt, 1997, 2001). However, now these reports appear in the annual reports of Australian public companies. Using content analysis, this study examines a sample of public companies listed on the ASX (Australian Stock Exchange) in 2000 and the reporting nexus between these companies' CEPs and their Annual Reports. The results show that environmentally sensitive companies are disclosing more environmental information than other companies. Emerging from these results, our study shows that companies involved in the survey adopted some disclosure on environmental issues based on the ideological belief in such environmental issues. There are currently only limited requirements for any formal identification or reporting with regard to environmental assets, liabilities or contingencies in Australia. Our research has shown that environmentally sensitive companies provided a significantly greater amount of voluntary positive environmental disclosures than the non-sensitive companies. Based on the results of our research it is fair to say that there is an ideological belief within the Australian public companies and the Accounting profession on environmental reporting issues.     

我国企业环境会计核算体系的构建

目前,中国经济快速增长的环境代价较大,可持续发展战略的实施对中国企业提出了一系列新的要求。环境会计不仅能够对外提供环境信息,还能够指导企业走可持续发展道路。本文总结了国际上环境会计的三种发展模式,通过对比三种模式的优缺点,并结合中国实际构建了中国企业环境会计核算体系,提出现阶段环境会计在中国实施的基本内容和方法,旨在为中国环境会计制度的建立和发展提供参考。     

上市公司会计信息失真及其监管的博弈分析

从理性"经济人"假设入手,基于博弈论视角,对上市公司会计信息失真行为和政府监管行为进行博弈分析,探讨上市公司和政府两个行为主体如何选择各自的行为策略及相互作用机理,并借助于博弈分析的结论,提出有效遏制公司会计造假和提高政府监管效率的相关政策建议。     

构建中国特色会计信息质量特征体系

本文认为,财务会计的主要目标是向有关方面提供有用的会计信息,会计信息质量特征研究在整个财务会计概念框架中占有重要地位。当前,我国尚未形成一个完整的会计信息质量体系,这对会计信息质量的提高、会计目标的实现都非常不利。文章提出,具有中国特色的会计信息质量特征体系,应由约束条件、信息前提条件、总体质量特征、主要质量特征、次要质量特征等内容构成,其中,成本效益原则和重要性原则是其约束条件,可理解性是其前提条件,有用性是其总体质量特征,可靠性、相关性、可比性是其主要和次要质量特征。     

Timeliness of Accounting Information in Family Controlled and Managed Companies in Brazil

The aim of this study was to assess the influence of family control and management in the quality of accounting information in Brazilian companies, with a focus on timeliness. The sample consisted of 72 Brazilian companies and 1,656 observations from 2008 to 2013. The results show that family-controlled companies are quicker to recognize good news related to the price of the respective stock. On the other hand, family managed companies showed low accounting timeliness in relation to recognition of good news. The findings contribute to the agency theory and the literature on family firms and confirm that such companies experience fewer agency problems arising from conflicts between majority and minority shareholders. In addition, the agency conflicts between the management and minority shareholders can be compounded by the recognition of good news not being in family managed firms.     

低碳经济时代实施环境会计问题的思考

近些年来,随着环境污染的加深,人们环保意识也在不断增强。环境会计也正是在此种环境问题越发严重的大背景下产生的。低碳是经济可发展的基本要求,环境会计是从制度上帮助低碳经济的会计手段。低碳经济与环境会计两者间存在着不可分割、相辅相成的关系。充分披露环境会计信息,既要依靠企业和社会公众披露环境信息的主动意识,也要依靠严格的法律法规管理。政府应该进一步提高公众的环境保护意识和增强企业的社会责任感。对于环境会计信息披露,应引导企业由强制披露向自觉披露过渡,逐渐形成成熟的环境会计信息披露模式,最终促进我国经济长远稳定发展。     

环境管理会计工具的特征化

在分析了当前外部环境报告自愿披露实践的局限性、企业当局环境责任和信息需求的基础上 ,提出了一个由货币—实物、时间分期、时间长度和信息搜集频次等维数构成企业内部环境管理会计 (EMA)特征框架 ,将目前EMA方法和工具进行分类。根据该特征框架 ,企业管理阶层可以按照特定的决策和责任背景选择合理的环境管理会计工具来控制环境影响。     

Getting to the Bottom Line: An Exploration of Gender and Earnings Quality

For stakeholders, such as investors and lenders, to appropriately assess a company’s financial performance, the reported accounting earnings must closely reflect the economic reality of the organization’s financial activity throughout the reporting period. The degree to which reported earnings capture economic reality is called earnings quality. Managers have an ethical obligation to report high quality earnings to interested stakeholders in a timely matter. Accounting research has identified conditions within an organization, such as management compensation contracts and pending litigation that can impact earnings quality. We extend this line of research by exploring whether another characteristic of an organization, gender diversity in senior management, influences the quality of reported earnings. Companies with more women in senior management are found to be more profitable and have higher stock returns after initial public offerings than those with fewer women in the management ranks. Our findings suggest that the improved bottom line for companies with more women senior executives is not produced through the management of earnings or lower quality earnings. Instead, earnings quality is positively associated with gender diversity in senior management. Gopal Krishnan is an associate professor and holds the VSCPA Northern Chapter Professorship in Public Accounting at the School of Management at George Mason University. He has published several articles on corporate governance and the role of auditors in journals such as Accounting Horizons, Contemporary Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance and Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory. Linda Parsons is an assistant professor at the School of Management at George Mason University. She is the author of several papers that examine the value relevance of accounting in the nonprofit sector, especially as it impacts decision-making by donors. Her work has appeared in journals such as Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance, Research in Governmental and Nonprofit Accounting, and Journal of Accounting Literature.     

受托责任下会计信息供需探析

会计信息反映企业价值运动的可计量的一种经济信息,是具有经济后果的。在新会计准则已明确会计报告以使用人为目标的受托责任下,会计信息需求就成为会计信息系统运行的重要依据。但作为信息提供方的管理当局,必然是维护自身的经济及社会利益最大化,有背离受托责任的强烈动机。为此,运用博弈论方法对博弈均衡进行推导,进而为量化规范上市公司会计信息供给以及对其监管问题提供依据。     

环境会计信息披露研究

作为实施可持续发展战略的重要组成部分 ,环境会计为各国政府所普遍重视。当前 ,我国在环境会计领域的研究还相当滞后 ,不但没有建立起符合中国国情的企业环境理论和环境会计准则 ,而且没有建立起完善的环境会计信息系统 ,企业环境会计信息披露严重不足且缺乏可比性和可靠性。本文就环境会计的信息披露工作展开重点讨论。     

Management Accounting Systems and Organisational Structure

In this paper we present an empirical analysis to test whether organisation configurations and management accounting systems change simultaneously. Using the original application of the fuzzy logic methodology, we analyse the level of development and implementation of the management accounting system and the organisational configuration on a sample of 501 Italian firms. Even though we employ a cross-sectional approach, the results may be interpreted according to the life cycle model. Our findings show that the evolution of the organisational configurations is not always coherent with the relevance assumed by management accounting systems. In particular, we find a large group of companies with a simple organisational configuration and a well-developed management accounting system. We interpret the presence of this cluster dynamically as an intermediate stage of growth towards more complex forms of organisation.     

我国会计师事务所信息化发展现状及对策研究

互联网的普及和信息化时代的到来让每个行业的数据快速增长,大数据时代的接踵而至更是让各行各业的数据呈指数型增长。会计师事务所与各个行业都有接触,其日常接触的数据量之大是很多行业所不能相比的,其信息化程度的高低有时直接影响审计效率和审计效果。然而我国会计师事务所信息化程度与国际大型会计师事务所相比依然有较大差距,我国会计师事务所信息系统审计发展并不是很高。本文将我国会计师事务所信息化发展的现状与国际会计师事务所信息化现状进行对比,尝试阐释导致这些现象发生的原因并提出相关的改进措施。     

Efficiency of venture capital firms: evidence from Spain

In recent years the venture capital (VC) sector has played an increasingly important role in financial systems. In general, this type of specialised financial activity is conducted by two types of operators, VC firms and VC management companies, each with its specific characteristics. The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the operating efficiency of these financial intermediaries in Spain, using data envelopment analysis, and to carry out an exploratory study of the variables that affect their level of efficiency, using a truncated regression model, and taking into consideration the nature of the operator (an approach not previously undertaken). Our analysis reveals, first, differences in the levels of efficiency achieved by VC firms and VC management companies and, second, that the most efficient organisations are those with more diversified ownership structures and which have a portfolio of companies active in the most innovative sectors.     

对我国会计信息失真的思考

会计信息是经济主体财务状况、经营成果和现金流量的反映。会计信息失真对国民经济的危害性极大。我国会计信息失真主要是管理机制缺位和法制观念浅薄使然,应从完善公司治理结构、完善股票发行制度,完善会计准则及会计制度等方面加以防范。同时,加大执法力度充分发挥经济警察的监管作用。     

论构建会计监管体系的有效途径

会计信息失真是一个国际性、历史性的问题,也是世界各国当前需要着力解决的重大问题.近年来,我国不断出现的会计信息失真现象,已暴露出我国在会计监管上的严重问题.构建政府监管、企业内部监管和社会监管的三位一体会计监管体系是预防会计信息失真的有效途径,政府应加强对会计工作的监管,完善会计监管的相关法律体系,建立健全公司内部控制制度,充分发挥新闻媒体对会计信息的监督作用,实现会计信息的真实可靠.