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It was 20 years ago today

Author

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  • Rob Gray
  • Richard Laughlin

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to revisit the special issue ofAccounting, Auditing & Accountability Journalwhich was published in 1991 and which sought to stimulate the “green accounting” debate, to evaluate that issue and, in particular, to examine what we might learn about the development of the social and environmental accounting literature in the last 20 years. Design/methodology/approach - The paper takes the form of a discursive, polemical essay. Findings - The special issue exhibited a wide range of approaches and possibilities; it also exhibited some theoretical naivety and a charming optimism and fetching trust in the power of reasonable argument. Retrospectively, the field has expanded considerably and has made many advances in theoretical and empirical understanding but researchers appear to be less willing to examine the fundamental issues that originally motivated the development of the field. Research limitations/implications - The implications and limitations stem from the ambitions of this discursive attempt to encourage debate of a more direct and confrontational nature – both within and at the margins of social, environmental and sustainability accounting. Originality/value - The originality and value of the paper is in its critical engagement with the literature and ideas of social accounting, which is the generic descriptor used in the paper to include “green accounting”. It provides not only an analysis of the achievement of the work to date but some critical pointers to the work that still needs to be done.

Suggested Citation

  • Rob Gray & Richard Laughlin, 2012. "It was 20 years ago today," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 25(2), pages 228-255, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:eme:aaajpp:v:25:y:2012:i:2:p:228-255
    DOI: 10.1108/09513571211198755
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Roslender, Robin & Marks, Abigail & Stevenson, Joanna, 2015. "Damned if you do, damned if you don’t: Conflicting perspectives on the virtues of accounting for people," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 43-55.
    2. Meidijati Meidijati & Yvonne Augustine, 2022. "The Effect of Tax Accounting, Green Accounting, and Carbon Accounting on Environmental, Social, and Governance Performance: Moderated by Green Intellectual Capital," Technium Social Sciences Journal, Technium Science, vol. 31(1), pages 371-387, May.
    3. Tsang, Albert & Frost, Tracie & Cao, Huijuan, 2023. "Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) disclosure: A literature review," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(1).
    4. Lehman, Glen, 2013. "Critical reflections on Laughlin's middle range research approach: Language not mysterious?," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 211-224.
    5. Jieun Chung & Charles H. Cho, 2018. "Current Trends within Social and Environmental Accounting Research: A Literature Review," Accounting Perspectives, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(2), pages 207-239, June.
    6. Parvez Mia & Tarek Rana & Lutfa Tilat Ferdous, 2021. "Government Reform, Regulatory Change and Carbon Disclosure: Evidence from Australia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-17, November.
    7. Anna Lucia Muserra & Marco Papa & Francesco Grimaldi, 2020. "Sustainable Development and the European Union Policy on Non‐Financial Information: An Italian Empirical Analysis," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(1), pages 22-31, January.
    8. Paul Shrivastava & Silvester Ivanaj & Sybil Persson, 2013. "Transdisciplinary Study of Sustainable Enterprise," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(4), pages 230-244, May.
    9. Bebbington, Jan & Russell, Shona & Thomson, Ian, 2017. "Accounting and sustainable development: Reflections and propositions," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 21-34.
    10. Pesci, Caterina & Costa, Ericka & Andreaus, Michele, 2020. "Using accountability to shape the common good," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 67.
    11. Bebbington, Jan & Larrinaga, Carlos, 2014. "Accounting and sustainable development: An exploration," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 395-413.
    12. Rashidi-Sabet, Siavash & Madhavaram, Sreedhar & Parvatiyar, Atul, 2022. "Strategic solutions for the climate change social dilemma: An integrative taxonomy, a systematic review, and research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 619-635.
    13. Patten, Dennis M., 2015. "An insider's reflection on quantitative research in the social and environmental disclosure domain," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 45-50.
    14. Unerman, Jeffrey, 2020. "Risks from self-referential peer review echo chambers developing in research fields," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(5).
    15. Ylönen, Matti & Laine, Matias, 2015. "For logistical reasons only? A case study of tax planning and corporate social responsibility reporting," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 5-23.
    16. Alawattage, Chandana & Fernando, Susith, 2017. "Postcoloniality in corporate social and environmental accountability," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1-20.
    17. Gray, Rob, 2013. "Standing on the (skeletal) shoulders of a (middle-range) giant: Acknowledging intellectual debt," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 207-210.

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