Environmental Orientation in Swedish Local Governments

Jan Alpenberg, Tomasz Wnuk-Pel and Amanda Henebäck
Additional contact information
Jan Alpenberg: Department of Accounting and Logistics, Linnaeus University, Box 451, 35106 Vaxjo, Sweden
Tomasz Wnuk-Pel: Department of Accounting, University of Lodz, Faculty of Management, 22/26, 90-237 Lodz, Poland
Amanda Henebäck: Department of Accounting and Logistics, Linnaeus University, Box 451, 35106 Vaxjo, Sweden

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 2, 1-21

Abstract: This study explores the environmental orientation in Swedish local governments. Environmental concerns over potential risk factors have become more important and popular among public organizations and environmental improvement efforts are made to create a sustainable ecosystem for the actors doing business, living and working in the area. Prior research indicates that public organizations have started to become more environmentally oriented in order to take on more responsibilities for reducing their own environmental impact as well as influencing the citizens and local businesses in the direction of a more sustainable way of living and working. Through a survey of Swedish local governments we conclude that they are taking on a key role in developing a sustainable ecosystem through becoming more environmentally oriented. This includes developing a framework for setting environmental goals, identifying suitable environmental indicators and reporting to a wide range of stakeholders. A factor that explains the increasing environmental orientation in the public sector is the implementation of digitalized performance measurement systems. We find that the environmental performance measurements are used to motivate different internal and external stakeholders in the efforts to create a multi-actor ecosystem.

Keywords: environmental orientation; framework for a sustainable ecosystem; performance measurement system; local government; indicators (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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