IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/acctfi/v62y2022i4p4423-4451.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Carbon controls in a New Zealand electricity utility: An application of theoretical triangulation

Author

Listed:
  • Binh Bui
  • Carolyn Fowler

Abstract

This article examines the drivers and process of change in carbon controls within a New Zealand electricity utility, using a meta‐triangulation approach that employs three theoretical perspectives (transactional cost economics, the resource‐based view and new institutional sociology). Results suggest three main objectives motivate carbon controls: cost control, competitiveness and legitimacy. Multiple environmental demands and expectations were met by focusing controls on a particular stakeholder group or objective. Further, the research identifies the conditions under which carbon controls are integrated and institutionalised within an organisational management control system. The theoretical interplay provides insight into inter‐relationships between institutional environments, organisational resources and carbon transactional characteristics.

Suggested Citation

  • Binh Bui & Carolyn Fowler, 2022. "Carbon controls in a New Zealand electricity utility: An application of theoretical triangulation," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(4), pages 4423-4451, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:acctfi:v:62:y:2022:i:4:p:4423-4451
    DOI: 10.1111/acfi.12942
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/acfi.12942
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/acfi.12942?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:eme:aaaj00:09513570710748562 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Trevor Hopper & Maria Major, 2007. "Extending Institutional Analysis through Theoretical Triangulation: Regulation and Activity-Based Costing in Portuguese Telecommunications," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(1), pages 59-97.
    3. Kumarasiri, Jayanthi & Gunasekarage, Abeyratna, 2017. "Risk regulation, community pressure and the use of management accounting in managing climate change risk: Australian evidence," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 25-38.
    4. Wei Qian & Roger Burritt & Gary Monroe, 2011. "Environmental management accounting in local government," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 24(1), pages 93-128, January.
    5. Jan Bebbington & Carlos Larrinaga-Gonzalez, 2008. "Carbon Trading: Accounting and Reporting Issues," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(4), pages 697-717.
    6. John P. Holdren, 2006. "The Energy Innovation Imperative: Addressing Oil Dependence, Climate Change, and Other 21-super-st Century Energy Challenges," Innovations: Technology, Governance, Globalization, MIT Press, vol. 1(2), pages 3-23, April.
    7. Paul Wachtel & Rainer Haselmann, 2006. "Institutions and Bank Behavior," Working Papers 06-16, New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, Department of Economics.
    8. Zahirul Hoque & Mark A. Covaleski & Tharusha N. Gooneratne, 2013. "Theoretical triangulation and pluralism in research methods in organizational and accounting research," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 26(7), pages 1170-1198, September.
    9. repec:eme:jal000:j.acclit.2015.03.001 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. repec:eme:aaaj00:09513571011080180 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Aldónio Ferreira & Carly Moulang & Bayu Hendro, 2010. "Environmental management accounting and innovation: an exploratory analysis," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 23(7), pages 920-948, September.
    12. van der Meer-Kooistra, Jeltje & Vosselman, Ed G. J., 2000. "Management control of interfirm transactional relationships: the case of industrial renovation and maintenance," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 51-77, January.
    13. Peter M. Clarkson & Yue Li & Matthew Pinnuck & Gordon D. Richardson, 2015. "The Valuation Relevance of Greenhouse Gas Emissions under the European Union Carbon Emissions Trading Scheme," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(3), pages 551-580, September.
    14. Qingliang Tang & Le Luo, 2014. "Carbon Management Systems and Carbon Mitigation," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 24(1), pages 84-98, March.
    15. Wei Qian & Roger Burritt & Gary Monroe, 2011. "Environmental management accounting in local government," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 24(1), pages 93-128, January.
    16. Hopwood, Anthony G., 2009. "Accounting and the environment," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 34(3-4), pages 433-439, April.
    17. Umesh Sharma & Stewart Lawrence & Alan Lowe, 2014. "Accountants as institutional entrepreneurs: changing routines in a telecommunications company," Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 11(3), pages 190-214, September.
    18. Patty McNicholas & Carolyn Windsor, 2011. "Can the financialised atmosphere be effectively regulated and accounted for?," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 24(8), pages 1071-1096, October.
    19. John Bellows & Edward Miguel, 2006. "War and Institutions: New Evidence from Sierra Leone," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(2), pages 394-399, May.
    20. Samuel Tang & David Demeritt, 2018. "Climate Change and Mandatory Carbon Reporting: Impacts on Business Process and Performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(4), pages 437-455, May.
    21. Binh Bui & Carolyn J. Fowler, 2019. "Strategic Responses to Changing Climate Change Policies: The Role Played by Carbon Accounting," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 29(2), pages 360-375, June.
    22. Colin Haslam & John Butlin & Tord Andersson & John Malamatenios & Glen Lehman, 2014. "Accounting for carbon and reframing disclosure: A business model approach," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(3), pages 200-211, September.
    23. Qian, Wei & Schaltegger, Stefan, 2017. "Revisiting carbon disclosure and performance: Legitimacy and management views," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 365-379.
    24. Umesh Sharma & Stewart Lawrence & Alan Lowe, 2014. "Accountants as institutional entrepreneurs: changing routines in a telecommunications company," Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 11(3), pages 190-214, September.
    25. S. Marquet-Pondeville & V. Swaen & Y. de Ronge, 2013. "Environmental management control systems: The role of contextual and strategic factors," Post-Print hal-00846969, HAL.
    26. Patty McNicholas & Carolyn Windsor, 2011. "Can the financialised atmosphere be effectively regulated and accounted for?," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 24(8), pages 1071-1096, October.
    27. David J. Teece & Gary Pisano & Amy Shuen, 1997. "Dynamic capabilities and strategic management," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(7), pages 509-533, August.
    28. repec:eme:aaaj00:09513571111184779 is not listed on IDEAS
    29. Huang, Xiaobei “Beryl†& Watson, Luke, 2015. "Corporate social responsibility research in accounting," Journal of Accounting Literature, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 1-16.
    30. Luis Ángel Velasteguí Martínez, 2006. "Instituciones y Crecimiento Económico," Observatorio de la Economía Latinoamericana, Servicios Académicos Intercontinentales SL. Hasta 31/12/2022, issue 69, Nobember.
    31. Han, Jianlei & Linnenluecke, Martina K. & Pan, Zheyao (Terry) & Smith, Tom, 2019. "The wealth effects of the announcement of the Australian carbon pricing scheme," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 399-409.
    32. Hakansson, Hakan & Lind, Johnny, 2004. "Accounting and network coordination," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 51-72, January.
    33. Nonna Martinov-Bennie & Rochel Hoffman, 2012. "Greenhouse Gas and Energy Audits under the Newly Legislated Australian Audit Determination: Perceptions of Initial Impact," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 22(2), pages 195-207, June.
    34. Roger L. Burritt & Stefan Schaltegger & Dimitar Zvezdov, 2011. "Carbon Management Accounting: Explaining Practice in Leading German Companies," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 21(1), pages 80-98, March.
    35. Binh Bui & Larelle Chapple & Thu Phuong Truong, 2020. "Drivers of tight carbon control in the context of climate change regulation," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(1), pages 183-226, March.
    36. Zahirul Hoque & Trevor Hopper, 1997. "Political and Industrial Relations Turbulence, Competition and Budgeting in the Nationalised Jute Mills of Bangladesh," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(2), pages 125-143.
    37. Matthäus Tekathen & Binh Bui & Zhichao (Alex) Wang, 2019. "Strategising in the midst of management controls: a case study on the relationship between management controls and promises on strategies," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 59(3), pages 1763-1804, September.
    38. Jones, Michael John, 2010. "Accounting for the environment: Towards a theoretical perspective for environmental accounting and reporting," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 123-138.
    39. David L. Deephouse, 1999. "To be different, or to be the same? It’s a question (and theory) of strategic balance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(2), pages 147-166, February.
    40. Panicos Demetriades & Siong Hook Law, 2006. "Finance, institutions and economic development," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 11(3), pages 245-260.
    41. Umesh Sharma & Stewart Lawrence*, 2005. "Public sector reform, global trends vs. local needs: the case of a state rental organisation in Fiji," Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 1(2), pages 141-164, July.
    42. Kathleen M. Eisenhardt & Jeffrey A. Martin, 2000. "Dynamic capabilities: what are they?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(10‐11), pages 1105-1121, October.
    43. Bui, Binh & de Villiers, Charl, 2017. "Business strategies and management accounting in response to climate change risk exposure and regulatory uncertainty," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 4-24.
    44. Stuart Cooper & Graham Pearce, 2011. "Climate change performance measurement, control and accountability in English local authority areas," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 24(8), pages 1097-1118, October.
    45. Stuart Cooper & Graham Pearce, 2011. "Climate change performance measurement, control and accountability in English local authority areas," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 24(8), pages 1097-1118, October.
    46. Xiaobei ‘‘Beryl’’ Huang & Luke Watson, 2015. "Corporate social responsibility research in accounting," Journal of Accounting Literature, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 34(1), pages 1-16, March.
    47. repec:eme:aaaj00:09513571111098072 is not listed on IDEAS
    48. Siong Hook Law & Panicos Demetriades, 2005. "Openness, Institutions and Financial Development," Discussion Papers in Economics 05/8, Division of Economics, School of Business, University of Leicester.
    49. Michael John Jones, 2010. "Accounting for the environment: Towards a theoretical perspective for environmental accounting and reporting," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(2), pages 123-138, June.
    50. anonymous, 2006. "Conference explores relationship of markets, institutions," Financial Update, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, vol. 19(Q 2).
    51. repec:eme:aaaj00:aaaj-may-2012-01024 is not listed on IDEAS
    52. Engels, Anita, 2009. "The European Emissions Trading Scheme: An exploratory study of how companies learn to account for carbon," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 34(3-4), pages 488-498, April.
    53. Henri, Jean-François & Journeault, Marc, 2010. "Eco-control: The influence of management control systems on environmental and economic performance," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 63-80, January.
    54. Aldónio Ferreira & Carly Moulang & Bayu Hendro, 2010. "Environmental management accounting and innovation: an exploratory analysis," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 23(7), pages 920-948, September.
    55. Sumit Lodhia & Nigel Martin, 2011. "Stakeholder responses to the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act: An agenda setting perspective," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 25(1), pages 126-145, December.
    56. Lounsbury, Michael, 2008. "Institutional rationality and practice variation: New directions in the institutional analysis of practice," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 33(4-5), pages 349-361.
    57. Esther Albelda Pérez & Carmen Correa Ruiz & Francisco Carrasco Fenech, 2007. "Environmental management systems as an embedding mechanism: a research note," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 20(3), pages 403-422, June.
    58. Frank Hartmann & Paolo Perego & Anna Young, 2013. "Carbon Accounting: Challenges for Research in Management Control and Performance Measurement," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 49(4), pages 539-563, December.
    59. Esther Albelda Pérez & Carmen Correa Ruiz & Francisco Carrasco Fenech, 2007. "Environmental management systems as an embedding mechanism: a research note," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 20(3), pages 403-422, June.
    60. Jones, Charles A. & Levy, David L., 2007. "North American Business Strategies Towards Climate Change," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 25(6), pages 428-440, December.
    61. Haslam, Colin & Butlin, John & Andersson, Tord & Malamatenios, John & Lehman, Glen, 2014. "Accounting for carbon and reframing disclosure: A business model approach," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 200-211.
    62. repec:eme:aaaj00:09613671111184760 is not listed on IDEAS
    63. Covaleski, Mark A. & Dirsmith, Mark W. & Samuel, Sajay, 2003. "Changes in the institutional environment and the institutions of governance: extending the contributions of transaction cost economics within the management control literature," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 417-441, July.
    64. Zahirul Hoque & Mark A. Covaleski & Tharusha N. Gooneratne, 2013. "Theoretical triangulation and pluralism in research methods in organizational and accounting research," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 26(7), pages 1170-1198, September.
    65. Boland Jr., Richard J. & Sharma, Arun K. & Afonso, Paulo Sérgio, 2008. "Designing management control in hybrid organizations: The role of path creation and morphogenesis," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 33(7-8), pages 899-914.
    66. Allan P. O. Williams, 2006. "Institutional and Market Influences in the Development of Cass," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: The Rise of Cass Business School, chapter 7, pages 95-111, Palgrave Macmillan.
    67. Krishnamurti, Chandrasekhar & Velayutham, Eswaran, 2018. "The influence of board committee structures on voluntary disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions: Australian evidence," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 65-81.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sandunima Kaluarachchi & Nagendrakumar Nagalingam, 2024. "Triangulating the moderate impact of performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influence in social media marketing: A study of business performance in Sri Lanka's cashew industry," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 58(5), pages 4407-4431, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rong He & Le Luo & Abul Shamsuddin & Qingliang Tang, 2022. "Corporate carbon accounting: a literature review of carbon accounting research from the Kyoto Protocol to the Paris Agreement," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(1), pages 261-298, March.
    2. Binh Bui & Muhammad Nurul Houqe & Muhammad Kaleem Zahir-ul-Hassan, 2022. "Moderating effect of carbon accounting systems on strategy and carbon performance: a CDP analysis," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 33(4), pages 483-524, December.
    3. Bui, Binh & de Villiers, Charl, 2017. "Business strategies and management accounting in response to climate change risk exposure and regulatory uncertainty," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 4-24.
    4. Laurianne Schmitt & Eric Casenave & Jessie Pallud, 2021. "Salespeople's work toward the institutionalization of social selling practices," Post-Print hal-03868903, HAL.
    5. Mahmoudian, Fereshteh & Lu, Jing & Yu, Dongning & Nazari, Jamal A. & Herremans, Irene M., 2021. "Inter-and intra-organizational stakeholder arrangements in carbon management accounting," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(1).
    6. Carolina Costabile & Jon Iden & Bendik Bygstad, 2022. "Building digital platform ecosystems through standardization: an institutional work approach," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 32(4), pages 1877-1889, December.
    7. Zahra Borghei, 2021. "Carbon disclosure: a systematic literature review," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(4), pages 5255-5280, December.
    8. Liu, Yang Stephanie & Zhou, Xiaoyan & Yang, Jessica Hong & Hoepner, Andreas G.F. & Kakabadse, Nada, 2023. "Carbon emissions, carbon disclosure and organizational performance," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    9. Tu Thanh Hoai & Nha Nguyen Minh & Hien Vo Van & Nguyen Phong Nguyen, 2023. "Accounting going green: The move toward environmental sustainability in Vietnamese manufacturing firms," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(4), pages 1928-1941, July.
    10. Irene Eleonora Lisi, 2018. "Determinants and Performance Effects of Social Performance Measurement Systems," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(1), pages 225-251, September.
    11. Leanne Johnstone, 2019. "Theorising and conceptualising the sustainability control system for effective sustainability management," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 30(1), pages 25-64, April.
    12. Minga Negash & Tesfaye T. Lemma, 2020. "Institutional pressures and the accounting and reporting of environmental liabilities," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(5), pages 1941-1960, July.
    13. Yenny Naranjo Tuesta & Cristina Crespo Soler & Vicente Ripoll Feliu, 2021. "Carbon management accounting and financial performance: Evidence from the European Union emission trading system," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 1270-1282, February.
    14. Leanne Johnstone, 2018. "Environmental management decisions in CSR‐based accounting research," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(6), pages 1212-1222, November.
    15. Khaled Alsaifi & Marwa Elnahass & Abdullah M. Al-Awadhi & Aly Salama, 2022. "Carbon disclosure and firm risk: evidence from the UK corporate responses to climate change," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 12(3), pages 505-526, September.
    16. Radhakrishnan, Suresh & Tsang, Albert & Liu, Rubing, 2018. "A Corporate Social Responsibility Framework for Accounting Research," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 53(4), pages 274-294.
    17. Abbasi, Kaleemullah & Alam, Ashraful & Borhan Uddin Bhuiyan, Md. & Tariqul Islam, Md, 2024. "Does female director expertise on audit committees matter for carbon disclosures? Evidence from the United Kingdom," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    18. Pei‐Chi Kelly Hsiao & Charl de Villiers & Claire Horner & Hein Oosthuizen, 2022. "A review and synthesis of contemporary sustainability accounting research and the development of a research agenda," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(4), pages 4453-4483, December.
    19. Norin Arshed & Dominic Chalmers & Russell Matthews, 2019. "Institutionalizing Women’s Enterprise Policy: A Legitimacy-Based Perspective," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(3), pages 553-581, May.
    20. Fan, Hanlu & Tang, Qingliang & Pan, Lipeng, 2021. "An international study of carbon information asymmetry and independent carbon assurance," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(1).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:acctfi:v:62:y:2022:i:4:p:4423-4451. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aaanzea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.