 The accounting push and the policy pull: balancing environment and economic decisionsMichael Vardon, Peter Burnett and Stephen Dovers Ecological Economics, 2016, vol. 124, issue C, 145-152 Abstract: The use of information in environmental and economic policy has been a theme for over 100years but standards for integrating environmental and economic information were not adopted until 2012, through the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA). For 20years the technical ‘push’ to develop accounts proceeded largely independently of the ‘pull’ from the intended or likely end-users of accounts. Consequently governments have little knowledge of the accounting or how it might be used. We examine why public policy imperatives have not yet pulled environmental accounting into the mainstream and explain how accounting can help reshape government decision-making. As part of this a model showing the place of accounts in the information system and the policy cycle is presented along with a research agenda and principles for the decision-centred design of accounts. We conclude that a phased implementation of the accounts as well as additional research into their applications will be needed to build practical understanding and political acceptance of the accounts. Keywords: Environmental accounting; Public policy; Environmental policy; Environmental information (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:124:y:2016:i:c:p:145-152 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2016.01.021 Access Statistics for this article Ecological Economics is currently edited by C. J. Cleveland More articles in Ecological Economics from Elsevier |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
EconPapers is hosted by the
School of Business at Örebro University.