Promoting Environmental Performance through Institutional Pressures and Environmental Management Accounting

Environmental management accounting (EMA) practices guide a firm’s response to perceived environmental uncertainty (EU) and various institutional pressures (IP). Drawing upon institutional theory, this study explores the relative effects of institutional pressures and environmental uncertainty on the implementation of EMA, an environmental strategy (ES), and the resulting environmental performance (EP) of firms under the influence of top-management support (TMS) and perceived benefits (PB). Based on data collected from 243 firms operating in Suzhou, one of the busiest business hubs in China, this research used the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. Findings reveal that environmental uncertainty exerts a stronger influence on the adoption of EMA practices than institutional pressures; however, the choice of a firm’s environmental strategy is more influenced by institutional pressures. Likewise, the serial-mediation effect of environmental strategy and EMA practices is observed to be the strongest in the case of coercive pressures, with some notable moderation effect for perceived benefits and top-management support. The study concludes with theoretical and managerial implications.

Type of the article: Research ArticleAbstractThe study aims to explore the effect of institutional pressures (INP) on environmental management accounting (EMA) and the mediating role of sustainable corporate governance (SCG) on the effects of EMA on sustainability performance. The partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was applied to test the hypotheses. Data were gathered through a survey of 298 publicly listed companies in Saudi Arabia, using questionnaires distributed to executives, financial managers, accountants, and board members. The results show that INP has a significant positive effect on EMA (β = 0.295, T = 6.062); in turn, EMA has a significant positive effect on environmental (β = 0.295), social (β = 0.332), and economic (β = 0.332) performance. Mediation analysis demonstrates that SCG acts as a significant mediator between INP and EMA (β = 0.113, T = 2.366), and EMA shows significant mediation between INP and environmental (β = 0.115), social (β = 0.126), and economic (β = 0.174) performance. These findings demonstrate that INP has both direct and indirect impacts on sustainability performance through EMA. A robust SCG structure strengthens the linkage between external INP and EMA adoption and provides the linkage with an internal legitimating mechanism. These outcomes bring forward the role of EMA as a mediating variable for materializing the effects of external pressures driven by the legitimacy needs into sustainability performance. The findings add to the body of knowledge of institutional theory by emphasizing the role of concurrent external institutional forces and internal factors that affect corporate sustainability performance.

The current study purposes to assess the impact of institutional pressures (coercive, mimetic, and normative) on environmental performance of the firm along with the mediation of implementation of environmental management accounting and moderation of environmental proactivity between them. Quantitative data are collected through structured questionnaire from 500 middle‐level and top‐level managers and owners of manufacturing firms of Pakistan. Data are analyzed through SPSS and AMOS in which structural equation modeling in performed to assess hypotheses. Findings show that coercive, mimetic, and normative pressures are significant derivers of environmental performance. It is further found that coercive, mimetic, and normative pressures significantly enhance the implementation of environmental management accounting, which in turn enhances the environmental performance of the firm. Furthermore, environmental proactivity is found to be a significant moderator between mimetic pressure and environmental performance while no moderation by environmental proactivity is confirmed in relationships of coercive pressure and normative pressure with environmental performance. The current findings are anticipated to assist practitioners in strategy development and execution to improve environmental performance of the firm and policymaking to control environmental impacts of businesses and improve environmental conditions in the country. The current study is the first one to empirically examine the moderating role of environmental proactivity and mediating role of execution of environmental management accounting between institutional pressures and environmental performance in context of Pakistan; so, it will open new areas of discussion and analysis for researchers in the domain of institutional theory.

1 Adopting Environmental Management Accounting: EMA as a Value-adding Activity.- I Conceptual Developments and Tools of Ema.- 2 The Sustainability Balanced Scorecard as a Framework to Link Environmental Management Accounting with Strategic Management.- 3 Environmental Cost Accounting: Classifying and Comparing Selected Approaches.- 4 The Professionalisation of Environmental and Social Reporting - What has it Achieved.- II Policies and Initiatives for the Promotion of Ema.- 5 Austrian Pilot Projects on Environmental Management Accounting Following the UN DSD EMA Methodology.- 6 Two Governmental Initiatives on Environmental Management Accounting and Corporate Practices in Japan.- 7 The Danish Green Accounts: Experiences and Internal Effects.- 8 Environmental Management Accounting, Eco-Efficiency Profiles, and Effluent Charges for Costa Rican Coffee Mills.- III Developments in Ema Adoption in Practice.- 9 Environmental Management Accounting for Staff Appraisal: Evidence from Australia, Germany and Japan.- 10 Environmental Performance Measurement through Accounting Systems: A Survey of UK Practice.- 11 Cost Management in the Textile Chain: Reducing Environmental Impacts ana Costs for Green Products.- 12 Institutional Changes and Environmental Management Accounting: Decentralisation and Liberalisation.- 13 Introducing Environmental Management Accounting into Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises.- 14 EMA in SMEs: Ten Italian Case Studies.- 15 Green Success: Process-based Environmental Cost Accounting - Implementation in SME's in Germany.- IV Effects of Ema.- 16 The Influence of ISO 14001 and EMAS Certification on Environmental and Economic Performance of Firms: an Empirical Analysis.- 17 Economic Valuation of the Environment: an Institutional Perspective.

PurposeThis study aims to examine the intricate connections between environmental management accounting (EMA) and environmental performance (ENP) through the mediating and moderating roles of green technology innovation, including green process innovation (GSI), green product innovation (GPI) and environmental strategy (EST). The study uses a mediated moderation model with the lenses of legitimacy theory and the natural resource-based view to explore how these constructs interact. It then offers insights into how organizations can improve ENP by integrating EMA, green technology innovation and EST.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses a quantitative approach and collects data from a survey of 325 senior managers and chief accountants of manufacturing firms in Vietnam. The author conducts validation and reliability assessments using SmartPLS4 software and uses partial least squares structural equation modeling to validate the research hypotheses.FindingsThe results indicate significant positive correlations between EMA, GSI, GPI and ENP. Additionally, the findings reveal that two forms of green technology innovation, namely, GSI and GPI, mediate the relationship between EMA and ENP. Finally, this study confirms that EST moderates the connections between GSI and ENP, as well as GPI and ENP.Originality/valueThis study offers novel perspectives on how organizations address the effective harmonization of diverse green assets, such as EMA, GSI, GPI and EST, to enhance ENP. Therefore, the findings of this research provide a valuable understanding of the correlations between EMA, GSI, GPI, EST and ENP for the manufacturing sector in the emerging economy.

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) play a significant role in Indonesian business growth. Therefore, the objective of the present study is to investigate the association of antecedents of environmental management accounting and environmental performance in Indonesian SMEs. In doing so, the current study seeks to identify the internal and external influencing factors for firms in adopting EMA and its subsequent impact on SMEs environmental performance. the outcomes of the PLS-SEM confirm that Benefit Expectation has significantly and positively impacted on Environmental Management Accounting. The results of PLS-SEM also confirm that Regulatory Pressure has a positive and significant impact on Environmental Management Accounting. Finally, the results of partial least square modelling confirm that Environmental Management Accounting also has a positive and significant impact on Environmental Performance.Keywords: Environmental management accounting, environmental performance, SMEs, Indonesia.JEL Classifications: Q55, Q50DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijeep.8366

Environmental management accounting (EMA) has been regarded as an effective way to deal with environmental issues and economic performance. On the basis of institutional theory, this research aims to examine the effects of institutional pressures on the implementation of EMA and how such effects are affected by top management support and perceived benefit. Data were collected from the manufacturing firms in the Yangtze River Delta using questionnaire survey method. The results indicated that coercive pressure and normative pressure positively and significantly affect the implementation of EMA whereas mimetic pressure has no significant effect. Furthermore, top management support and perceived benefit play different moderating roles in the relationships between institutional pressures and the implementation of EMA. Top management support and perceived benefit positively moderate the relationships between coercive pressure, normative pressure, and the implementation of EMA although negatively moderate the relationship between mimetic pressure and the implementation of EMA. On the basis of the findings, policy implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

PurposeThis paper aims to test a conceptual framework that describes the relationship between environmental strategy, environmental management accounting and environmental performance. In this paper, the authors argue that environmental strategy can directly influence environmental performance through environmental management accounting.Design/methodology/approachThis paper examines the survey responses of general managers, operations managers, financial managers and environmental managers in an ISO 14001 certified company listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. The hypotheses were tested using a consistent partial least squares approach and bias-corrected and accelerated bootstrap confidence intervals to test the significance between variables.FindingsIn general, the proposed framework obtains adequate goodness-of-fit statistics. Furthermore, the results support the argument that there is a positive and significant effect of environmental strategies on the environmental performance of companies and that the role of environmental management accounting can mediate their relationship.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitations of this study relate to the small sample size, as environmental results are still regarded as confidential by many companies. A causal relationship cannot be confirmed for the results. The instrument used is fully adopted from previous research, without unidimensional re-testing. This study contributes to the natural resource-based view literature by responding to recent calls to test the combined effect of resources on environmental performance.Practical implicationsThis result could serve as a specific reference for policymaking at firms to continuously improve their environmental performance. This study also has important implications for management practices by illustrating the potential of environmental strategies and environmental management accounting to improve environmental performance.Social implicationsThis result indicates that the improving green accounting in Indonesia would appear to require more mandated pressure from, particularly, governmental powers.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the corporate environmental accounting literature by providing empirical evidence linking environmental strategy with environmental performance through the implementation of environmental management accounting.

Nowadays, carbon and other ozone harming emanations are one of the fundamental drivers of this overshoot. In the light of this discussion, the current examination aims to investigate the relationship between accounting, management and environment in realizing firm performance. In doing so, the current examination opted to inspect the critical relationship of environmental management accounting (EMA), environmental strategies (ENS) and managerial commitment (MAC) in driving firm performance. Given the concerns within the literature that environmental processing within organization enhance financial costs, the authors of the study are motivated to analyze the impact of the variables on both environmental and economic performance of SMEs in Indonesia. We apply novel partial least square structural equation modelling by collected the data from 317 respondents of different small and medium size enterprises of Indonesia. The results of SEM confirm that economic performance and environmental performance have significantly and positively impacted by environmental strategy. The outcomes of partial least square structural equation modelling also indicate that economic and environmental performance have also positively and significantly impacted by the environmental management accounting. Finally, the results of PLS-SEM also specified that economic performance and environmental performance have significantly and positively affected by managerial commitment. Keywords: Environmental Strategy, Managerial Commitment, Environmental Management Accounting.JEL Classifications: Q55, Q50DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijeep.8284

Research aim: This research investigates the relationship between EMA (monetary and physical) and environmental performance Design/ Methodology/ Approach: This is a questionnaire-based survey study whereby the questionnaires are sent to 69 large manufacturing companies in Malaysia that are certified with ISO 14001 Environmental Management System.  Research finding: The study found no relationship between EMA (monetary and physical) and environmental performance. Theoretical contribution/ Originality: The study highlights that the EMA literature is not yet comprehensive and as such, may result in the lack of a relationship with EMA. Practitioner/ Policy implication: The results suggest that a formal environmental management accounting by the government may be able to assist to the lack of relationship between EMA and environmental performance. Limitation/ Implication: The study sampled only large Malaysian manufacturing companies with ISO 14001 Environmental Management System. Additionally, a larger sample size may provide better results. Type of article: Research paper Keywords: Environmental Performance, Monetary Environmental Management Accounting, Physical Environmental Management Accounting, ISO 14001 Environmental Management System JEL Classification: C30

The purpose of this paper is to present an empirical case for research in environmental management accounting and/or environmental cost accounting. The paper provides an analysis of the current status of environmental management and/or environmental cost accounting at the industry level. The author explores the extent of management research in the field of corporate sustainability management and environmental management accounting. The study employs a survey method for identifying factors to adopt environmental cost accounting and its guidelines within organizations in Korean manufacturing industry contexts. The paper uncovers those manufacturing industries' views on motivations and obstacles to adopt environmental cost accounting and its guidelines, and general perceptions on related issues. It is found that there is a lack of a systematically structured approach to implement environmental cost accounting internally in practice. The study also finds that some difficulties to adopt environmental cost accounting in practice are caused by the existing accounting and information system. The paper suggests where further contributions might be made by future research endeavours engaging with different industry sectors and country levels. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Do environmental management practices mediate institutional pressures-environmental performance relationship? Evidence from Vietnamese SMEs

Environmental management accounting in the Middle East and North Africa region: Significance of resource slack and coercive isomorphism

Purpose This article aims to fill the gap by identifying the state of academic research on sustainability in environmental management accounting (EMA), presenting a synthesis of our findings, a discussion and proposals for future research. Design/methodology/approach Based on the database Scopus, the publication of 218 documents on EMA and sustainability was identified in English which was published before 2025, and bibliometric analysis was conducted. Data on the publications, journals, authors and citations were collected, double-checked and examined by applying bibliometric measures. Findings Bibliometric analysis identifies trends in EMA and sustainability research publications since 2018, one of the key concepts being the circular economy. Additionally, authors predominantly focus on the impact of EMA on environmental and financial performance. Conversely, the Journal of Cleaner Production and Business Strategy and The Environment are the most significant journals. Research limitations/implications The sample documents are restricted to the Scopus database, so some relevant articles may be overlooked. Furthermore, Bibliometric map interpretation depends on subjective estimations, which could impact the outcomes. Practical implications EMA plays an important role in fostering a balance between social welfare, environmental sustainability and economic progress. In addition, supports the transition toward a low-carbon economy and society that is more mindful of sustainability. Originality/value This research unites the relationship between EMA and sustainability, including the intellectual structure, author clusters and main themes such as green innovation and resource management, which have not been examined holistically previously.

The impact of tourism industry activities can cause various environmental problems that are detrimental to various parties. This is a social burden, which must be taken seriously. Environmental Management Accounting is a concept that helps companies contain business impacts in the form of monetary units. The application of Environmental Management Accounting helps companies deal with environmental problems by recording all production activities to be reported in the company's environmental cost report. Although until now there is no standard that requires full environmental accounting disclosure. The research methodology uses case studies. This research aims to develop a model in the form of an accounting policy that contains the concept; emphasize relationship patterns and clarify environmental management accounting practices in the hotel industry. Data analysis was carried out using the Miles and Huberman model. The research results show that environmental management accounting is still considered necessary because it does not affect the business climate. In addition, the relationship between a company's environmental performance presented in the company's accountability report and its financial or economic performance is still doubtful.