Ecological economics: A Luhmannian analysis of integrated reporting

David Alexander and Véronique Blum ()
Additional contact information
David Alexander: Birmingham Business School - University of Birmingham [Birmingham]
Véronique Blum: CERAG - Centre d'études et de recherches appliquées à la gestion - UGA [2016-2019] - Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019], UGA [2016-2019] - Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019]

Post-Print from HAL

Abstract: This paper integrates the ideas of the German sociologist Niklas Luhmann (1927–1998) with the highly topical issue of sustainability reporting. Luhmann sought a detailed description of the world as a set of complex systems which he applied to ecology. We discuss the gestation and requirements of the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) conceptual framework of 2013, suggesting that as finalised it has little relevance to either sustainability or ecology.Consistent with Luhmann's approach which praises for more consciousness, our research provides no instant blueprint or solution, but a coherent way of understanding and analysing the complex set of systems and sub-systems involved in the multi-capital, multi-measurement-unit, multi-stakeholder and multi-motivated current content of the sustainability issue. The paper suggests that the current field of operations may be too narrow. It provides a mental mechanism for creative forward thinking, establishing a broader framework and providing guidance and direction for this enlargement.

Keywords: Luhmann; Integrated reporting; Sustainable/ecological development; Social systems (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-09
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

Published in Ecological Economics, 2016, 129, pp.241-251. ⟨10.1016/j.ecolecon.2016.06.020⟩

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01980803

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2016.06.020

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Post-Print from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().