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Public discourse and decision making Exploring possibilities for financial, social and environmental accounting

Public discourse and decision making Exploring possibilities for financial, social and... Economic “development” involves processes that often jointly produce both goods and “bads” – economic, environmental and social. The bads, however, are often technologically invisible; not least in terms of the way decisions are informed and accounted for. This paper takes as its case study a major development proposal that had the potential to produce economic, environmental, and social goods and bads. The paper involves an exploration of official independent reports leading to the proposal, considering the various factors taken into the decision, how the processes were reported on and accounted for. In particular, the treatment of financial/economic factors is examined and compared and contrasted with the treatment of social/environmental factors. From this, the paper considers possibilities for financial, social and environmental accounting in public discourse and decision making. In particular, the use of accounting to create environmental and social visibilities, and to facilitate discourse and debate, is examined. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal Emerald Publishing

Public discourse and decision making Exploring possibilities for financial, social and environmental accounting

Gordon Boyce
Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal , Volume 13 (1): 38 – Mar 1, 2000
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38 pages

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Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2000 MCB UP Ltd. All rights reserved.
ISSN
0951-3574
DOI
10.1108/09513570010316135
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Economic “development” involves processes that often jointly produce both goods and “bads” – economic, environmental and social. The bads, however, are often technologically invisible; not least in terms of the way decisions are informed and accounted for. This paper takes as its case study a major development proposal that had the potential to produce economic, environmental, and social goods and bads. The paper involves an exploration of official independent reports leading to the proposal, considering the various factors taken into the decision, how the processes were reported on and accounted for. In particular, the treatment of financial/economic factors is examined and compared and contrasted with the treatment of social/environmental factors. From this, the paper considers possibilities for financial, social and environmental accounting in public discourse and decision making. In particular, the use of accounting to create environmental and social visibilities, and to facilitate discourse and debate, is examined.

Journal

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal – Emerald Publishing

Published: Mar 1, 2000

Keywords: Environmental audit; Social accounting; Public sector; Environmental impact assessment

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