欧洲的环境管理会计 应用现状和发展潜力外文翻译Word下载.docx

欧洲的环境管理会计 应用现状和发展潜力外文翻译Word下载.docx

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currentpracticeandfuturepotential

ABSTRACT

Thispaperreportsandanalysestheresultsofatrans-Europeanprojecttoinvestigatethepresentandpotentialfuturelinksbetweentheenvironmentalmanagementandmanagementaccountingfunctionsofacompanyorbusiness.Ataxonomyoffourbroadbutdistinctapproachestoenvironmentalaccountingisidentifiedfromtheliterature:

externalfinancialreporting;

socialaccountabilityreporting;

energyandmaterialsaccounting;

andenvironmentalmanagementaccounting.Thisprojectfocusesonthelatter-thegeneration,analysisanduseoffinancialandrelatednon-financialinformation,inordertosupportmanagementwithinacompanyorbusiness,inintegratingcorporateenvironmentalandeconomicpoliciesandbuildingsustainablebusiness.Theresearchinvolvedinterviewswithaccountants'

andenvironmentalmanagersateighty-fourcompaniesinGermany,Italy,TheNetherlands

andtheUK,anddetailedcasestudiesoffifteencompaniesinthosefourcountries.Thepapersummarizesthefindingsoftheresearchandtheirimplicationsforfourcorehypotheses,goesontodiscussinternationaldifferences,andconcludesbyreviewingtheimplicationsoftheresultsforlikelyfuturedevelopments.

1.APPROACHESTOBUSINESS-LEVELENVIRONMENTALACCOUNTING

Theacademicandpractitionerliteratureonenvironmentalaccountingattheleveloftheindividualcompanyorbusinessspansseveraldifferentapproaches,andtheterm'

environmentalaccounting'

isitselfusedlooselyandambiguously.Inordertopositionaspecificprojectwithintheliterature,anddefineatleastbroadboundarieswithinwhichempiricalworkcanbecarriedout,sometaxonomyisneeded.

Thedifferentapproachestoenvironmentalaccountingaremostdirectlydistinguishedintermsoftheirdifferingemphaseson,first,thecontentoftheactivity-thebalancebetweenfinancialandnon-financialdata;

and,second,theprimarypurpose,inparticularthewell-establishedaccountingdistinctionbetweenprimarytargetaudiences-howfartheprincipalobjectiveisinternaldecisionsupportformanagement,orexternalreporting.

Theneedforsuchastructuretobedefinedattheoutsettoguideresearchisindicatedbythelackofconsensusintheliteratureonterminologyanddefinitions-forexample,onwhatshouldbeencompassedwithinthedefinitionof'

managementaccounting'

.TheofficialdefinitionoftheUK'

sCharteredInstituteofManagementAccountants,forexample,claimsthat,aswellasreportinginternallytomanagementwithinanentity,'

managementaccountingalsocomprisesthepreparationoffinancialreportsfornon-managementgroupssuchasshareholders...'

（CIMA,1996）whereassomestandardtexts（Drury,1996）restrictitsscopetoprovidinginformationonlyto'

peoplewithintheorganisation'

.TheCIMAdefinitionalsorefersto'

informationusedbymanagementtoplan,evaluateandcontrol...andassureappropriateuseofandaccountabilityforitsresources'

-implicitlyincludingnon-financialaswellasstrictlyfinancialmeasuresandperformanceindicators.Fewwoulddenythatanorganization'

sfinancialperformanceislikelytobedependentonitsperformanceinoperationalandstrategicareaswhichcanbestbemeasuredbynon-financialindicators,butsomenon-accountantswouldchallengeadefinitionwhichcansometimesbeperceivedasanattemptedassertionofprofessionalownership.Thisisparticularlyrelevantinenvironmentalaccountingandperformancemeasurement,wheremuchoftheprocessofdatacaptureandinformationgenerationis,inpractice,managedbygraduatesofnaturalsciencedisciplineswhichwouldthemselvesclaimalongpedigreeofmeasurementexpertise.

Boundariesbetweensubsetsofenvironmentalaccountingaredefinableonlybroadly,anditwouldbecounter-productivetoattempttoapplytheserigidly.ThestructurereflectedinFigure1wasadoptedbythemembersoftheproject

tobeusedasapragmaticframeworktoguidetheempiricalresearchandregularfrequentdebatesbetweenmembersastheprojectproceeded,overwhichbusinessactivitiescouldmostusefullybeclassifiedaselementsofenvironmentalmanagementaccounting,wereacontinuingdemonstrationoftheneedtoseeitassuch.Figure1distinguishesfourbroadapproachestoenvironmentalaccountingattheleveloftheindividualcompanyorbusiness-externalfinancialreporting;

andenvironmentalmanagementaccounting.

Externalfinaneialreporting

Theenvironment-relatedaspectofthisisconcernedwithassessingthefinancialeffects（returnsandrisks）ofenvironmentalfactorsoncompanies,inordertoinforminvestors,lendersandotherfinancialstakeholders,asdistinctfromreportingonenvironmentalperformanceforitsownsake.Environmentdrivenfinancialriskscanbeconsiderable-forexample,liabilitiesassociatedwithaneedtoclean-upcontaminatedland.IthasbeenestimatedthatAmericanindustrymaybeunder-providedfor'

Superfund'

-relatedclean-upliabilitiesbyuptoatrilliondollars（SchoemakerandSchoemaker,1995）.Thescaleofenvironment-drivenliabilitiesislessintheUKandotherEuropeancountriesbecauseofdifferinglegislativeandregulatoryregimes,butcanbesignificantforsomeindividualcompaniesandmaybecomemoresoasenvironmentallegislationbecomesmorerigorous.

FinancialregulatorssuchastheSecuritiesandExchangeCommissionandtheaccountancyprofessiononbothsidesoftheAtlantichavebeenconcernedtoensurethatcurrentfinancialreportingstandardsareadequatetocapturethefullscaleofpotentialenvironmentalliabilities（FEE,1996）,thoughanargumenthasbeenmadethatthecurrentstandardsthemselvesareadequateprovidedthattheyareproperlyfollowedandenforced（ICAEW,1996）.Researchintotheattitudesofthefinancialauditingprofessionreportssimilarfindings:

thatalthoughthereisahighlevelofawarenessoftheimportanceofenvironmentalissues,atleastamongstlargerauditfirms,thereisagenerallackofsupportforregulationandmandatoryprofessionalguidance（Collison,1996;

Collisonetal,1996;

CollisonandGray,1997）.

Socialaccountabilityreporting

Muchoftheinterestshownbyacademia,particularlyintheUK,canbeseenasanextensionofthesocialaccountingmovementwhichflourishedbrieflyinthe1970s.Thisaimedtobroadenthescopeofaccountingfromitstraditional-andlegally-defined-concentrationonfinancialstakeholders,toabroaderaccountabilitytoexternalstakeholdersgenerallyandtosocietyasawhole（Grayetal.,1993,1996,1997）.Althoughthoseinitiativesfailedtopersist,thesocialaccountingapproachhasinfluenceddebateandpracticeinenvironmentalreportingexternally.IntheUK,forexample,itsproponentshavebeencentraltothedevelopmentoftheAssociationofCharteredCertifiedAccountants'

EnvironmentalReportingAwardsScheme（Owenetal.,1997）.Anecdotalevidencebasedonfeedbackfromenvironmentalmanagerssuggeststhatthisishighlyregardedinindustryandisavaluablesupportforthemin

convincingscepticalseniormanagementsofthevalueofexternaldisclosure,andthatithasbeeninstrumentalinencouragingimprovementsandinnovationsinthestand-alonevoluntarypublishedcorporateenvironmentalreportswhicharethemostvisibleindicatorofcorporateaccountabilitytoexternalstakeholders（Owen,1992）.

Grayetal.（1993）andothershavepointedoutthataccountantsandtheaccountingprofessionhavemuchtocontributeinthisrespect;

specifically,theirexperiencecouldbevaluableinthegeneration,collectionandanalysisofdataonresourcesconsumedandotheraspectsofperformance,muchofwhichwillbeheldwithinaccountingrecordsandsystems;

verificationofdatacollectionandanalysismethods;

andthereportingandcommunicationofquantitativedata.

Energyandmaterialsaccounting

Manyenvironmentalimpactsarerelatedtoflowsofphysicalsubstances（fuels,materials,water,gases,etc.）.Hence,thisisthebasicdatausedforlife-cycleassessment（LCA）.Someexpertsthereforeadvocatethat,ifmanagementaccountingistotakeenvironmentseriously,thetrackingandanalysisofthisnon-financialinformationshouldbecomeasimportantasthetrackingandanalysingoffinancialinformation（Birkin,1997a-f）.Thiscanalsobeseenasalogicalresponsetotheargumentsforgreateruseofnon-financialinformationindecision-makingandperformancemeasurementwhichhavebeenmadebyKaplanandNorton（1996）,thoughthiscanagainraisepotentialquestionsoverthemostappropriateprofessionalownershipofnon-financialperformancemeasurementindicators.

Oneparticularactivityinthisareawithclearrelevanceformanagementaccountingiseco-balancing,sincebothofferaframeworkinwhichanholisticoverviewofabusinessasawholecanbebrokendownintosufficientdetailtobemanagedandcontrolledoperationally（Becksmann,1996;

Jasch,1999;

RaubergerandWagner,1999）.Mueller-Wenk,aSwissengineer,isgenerallyrecognizedastheoriginatorofeco-balancinginthe1970s（Mueller-Wenk,1978）,andithassubsequentlybeenwidelyimplementedasanintegralpartofcorporateenvironmentalmanagementinGermany,AustriaandSwitzerland.However,itisusuallyperceivedasanengineeringmanagementprocess,organizationallylocatedwithinproductionfunctions,ratherthanasanaccountingprocess,perhapsreflectingdeeperdifferencesbetweenGermanicandother（particularlyAnglo-Saxon）managementcultures.Environmentalmanagementaccounting

Asenvironmentalmanagementinbusinesshasevolved,interesthasgrownindevelopingabetterunderstandin