Influences of Behavioral Intention to Engage in Environmental Accounting Practices for Corporate Sustainability: Managerial Perspectives from a Developing Country

Xiaofang Chen, P.R. Weerathunga, Mohammad Nurunnabi, K.M.M.C.B. Kulathunga and W.H.M.S. Samarathunga
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Xiaofang Chen: School of Management, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
P.R. Weerathunga: School of Management, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
Mohammad Nurunnabi: Department of Accounting, Prince Sultan University, Riyadh 11586, Saudi Arabia
K.M.M.C.B. Kulathunga: Department of Management Sciences, Faculty of Management, Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, Badulla 90000, Sri Lanka
W.H.M.S. Samarathunga: Faculty of Management Studies, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka, Mihintale 50300, Sri Lanka

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 13, 1-30

Abstract: Environmental degradation is a serious global issue that has received increasing attention from scholars, policymakers, regulators, environmental activists, and the public as a whole. In the meantime, corporations have been criticized as major contributors to environmental pollution. Environmental accounting (EA) is a corporate practice that seeks to account for the cost of environmental impacts of business operations. However, it is questionable whether the true cost of environmental impacts of business operations is accounted for in the conventional accounting systems. In order to shed more light on this issue, this study examines key drivers of managerial intention to engage in EA practices in Sri Lanka. We employ the theory of planned behavior to conceptualize the antecedents of managers’ intention to engage in EA practices. The results of the partial least square structural equation model (PLS-SEM) evaluation revealed that managers’ intention is significantly influenced by the attitudes towards EA practices, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. Our results also indicate that a larger proportion of the variance of perceived behavioral control is explained by the perceived cost and complexity, perceived regulatory pressure, and organizational environmental orientation. The findings of this study provide important theoretical and practical implications for scholars, managers, and policymakers.

Keywords: environmental accounting; managers’ behavioral intention; Sri Lanka; PLS-SEM (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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