Environmental accounting and change in UK local government

Amanda Ball

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 2005, vol. 18, issue 3, 346-373

Abstract: Purpose - This paper aims to explore environmental accounting in terms of long‐term societal transition towards “sustainable development”. Design/methodology/approach - Accordingly, the paper uses an abstracted and generic framework of antecedents to “deinstitutionalisation” (the erosion or discontinuity of institutionalized organisational activities or practices) to analyse a case study of how a UK local government council is responding to an environmental agenda in the context of an array of gradual political, functional and social pressures to change its activities. Findings - The findings of the study indicate how, in different ways, environmental accounting is pressed into use to promote such change. Originality/value - Contrary to other frameworks which emphasise how environmental accounting is potentially constructive/empowering or captured/colonized, drawing on this case study the paper argues that environmental accounting may in contrast be mobilised to contribute to a process of deinstitutionalisation, even when attempts to develop such accounting are not entirely successful.

Keywords: Accounting; Local government; Change management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2005
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:aaajpp:09513570510600738

DOI: 10.1108/09513570510600738

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