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This paper reports the analyses of the social and environmental disclosures of listed South African mining companies and compares the disclosures of larger companies with those of smaller companies using several different categories of comparison. The prior literature suggests that larger companies almost invariably disclose more social and environmental information due to their greater visibility. The expected differences are found in social disclosures, but not in environmental disclosures. An institutional theory framework is used to explain these unexpected environmental disclosure findings. Specifically, the field of corporate environmental disclosures among mining companies may have reached a level of maturity and professionalization causing disclosures to become similar through a process of isomorphism. These similarities have now reached the stage where small companies disclose the same amount of environmental information, in the same general format, as large companies. While all three types of isomorphism (mimetic, coercive, normative) are probably still at work, in theory normative isomorphism, usually driven by professionalization, becomes more prominent when a field reaches maturity.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the perceptions that management accountants have of their roles in accounting for sustainable development in their organisations. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws arguments from prior literature to identify the roles that management accountants play in accounting for sustainable development. Management accountants' perceptions of their roles in accounting for sustainable development are examined by conducting interviews and surveys of management accountants from various organisations in New Zealand. The study is informed by legitimacy theory. Findings – Management accountants of small-medium organisations in New Zealand play a limited role in accounting for sustainable development, compared to management accountants of larger organisations. The correlation between the type of organisation and their overall goals for achieving sustainable development are closely linked with the roles the organisations' management accountants play in accounting for sustainable development. Research limitations/implications – This research is limited as it is only an exploratory study with a small sample of small-medium and large businesses in New Zealand. There is a need for greater acceptance by senior management of the role management accountants could play in accounting for sustainable development. Practical implications – This paper may help management accountants, of both small-medium and larger organisations, to advance accounting for sustainable development within their organisations by actively engaging with the issues that have deterred such advancement. Originality/value – This paper provides a review of the current debates and positions of accounting for sustainable development as well as the barriers management accountants face in getting engaged in accounting for sustainable development initiatives.

Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent and nature of the corporate social reporting (CSR) practices of the 40 largest Thai companies over the years 1997, 1999 and 2001. Design/methodology/approach-The extent and nature of CSR in annual reports was measured according to the number of words disclosed and trends were analyzed over this five-year period. CSR disclosure was classified according to five key themes, the nature of the evidence, and the type of news disclosed. Findings-The research showed, in aggregate, a trend of increasing amounts of corporate social disclosure, although the five-year trends varied within different industries. CSR among Thai companies was found to be primarily focused on human resources, providing "declarative" good news disclosures. Legitimacy theory, political economy theory and economic conditions were used to present explanations for the trends. The study concluded that while no single perspective can explain the disclosure of CSR, the empirical findings demonstrate that the key areas of company social exposure are reflected by CSR. Originality/value-This paper makes an important contribution to the knowledge of CSR in Asia and demonstrates similar issues in CSR reporting to those found in other countries.

Purpose – This study aims to examine to what extent and how effective sustainability education has been at the tertiary accounting education level. The New Zealand (NZ) Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment identified that sustainability education, as part of university education, is important, though NZ universities currently perform poorly in this area. This study looks at the important issue of sustainability education in the context of the emerging field of ecological economics and new understanding in business role and function of society where accounting education represents the precondition in meeting the challenges successfully. Design/methodology/approach – A mixed method approach was used for this investigation combining quantitative and qualitative research methods to provide more depth to the analysis. Both interviews and online surveys were conducted to determine the perceptions held by both academics and graduates, of the extent and adequacy of sustainability education with NZ university degrees. An extensive review of the literature and the overview of the web sites of the different universities formed the qualitative part of the mixed method research approach to the investigation to determine the state of sustainability education in accounting courses at NZ universities. Findings – There were mixed views on the current state of sustainability education within NZ university accounting courses. Although there was a general consensus with both groups of participants that a start has been made, the integration is not wide enough and the sustainability education is not in sufficient depth. There were mixed feelings regarding the role that accountants should play in sustainability reporting; however, there was a general consensus around the fact that accountants do have a role to play. Both groups of participants indicated that it is important for sustainability education to be included in accounting courses at NZ universities. Based on the research findings, it appears that universities have to maintain or provide an optional higher undergraduate or post-graduate level paper in sustainability accounting. Evidence from lecturers' personal experience suggest that these courses better develop a student's knowledge of sustainability as they have time to take an interdisciplinary approach to teaching and take a look at “big issues” like how accounting can either support or hinder sustainability directions for businesses and society. Originality/value – The role that accounting educators play in integrating sustainability education at universities has been a contentious issue with a seemingly large gap between what research has defined as best education practice and what is currently being taught around the world. Although sustainability has formed the subject of extensive research over a number of years, there has been no work performed on the current state of sustainability education in accounting courses at NZ universities. Given the future challenges that NZ managers (and accountants) will face, it is important that universities which form a vital part of NZ society, equip managers (and accountants) to meet these demands. This study on perceptions of different stakeholders in relation to education for sustainable development, therefore, provides really important arguments for why there has to be further developments in this crucial area. The findings indicate that sustainability education by accounting educators is on a very much ad hoc basis. Further research needs to be conducted to drive better educational directions in sustainable development in universities.