An Explanatory Model of Materiality in Sustainability Accounting: Integrating Accountability and Stakeholder Heterogeneity

Yining Zhou; Geoff Lamberton; Michael Charles

doi:10.3390/su15032700

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An Explanatory Model of Materiality in Sustainability Accounting: Integrating Accountability and Stakeholder Heterogeneity

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An Explanatory Model of Materiality in Sustainability Accounting: Integrating Accountability and Stakeholder Heterogeneity

Yining Zhou, Geoff Lamberton and Michael Charles

Sustainability (Basel, Switzerland), Vol.15(3), 2700

02/02/2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032700

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Abstract

Accountability

Accounting

Decision making

Heterogeneity

Materiality

Social impact

Stakeholders

Stockholders

Sustainability

Sustainability reporting

This study aims to advance the conceptualisation of materiality in sustainability accounting by tackling theoretical deficiencies that remain unresolved in the current understanding of materiality. In doing so, we integrate accountability and stakeholder heterogeneity into a new conceptual model of materiality that is used to explain how an organisation sets priorities in reporting and in managing different sustainability issues in a heterogeneous stakeholder environment. The model is illustrated with reference to events involving the multinational organisation Exxon. The empirical accounts of the Exxon case presented herein fortify our knowledge claims for this model and, moreover, confirm its explanatory potential with respect to the materiality phenomenon, including how unaccountable behaviour is dealt with in materiality practices.

Details

Title: An Explanatory Model of Materiality in Sustainability Accounting: Integrating Accountability and Stakeholder Heterogeneity
Creators: Yining Zhou - Southern Cross University
Geoff Lamberton - Southern Cross University
Michael Charles - Southern Cross University
Publication Details: Sustainability (Basel, Switzerland), Vol.15(3), 2700
Publisher: MDPI AG
Identifiers: 991013092677502368
Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Academic Unit: Management; Faculty of Business, Law and Arts
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article

An Explanatory Model of Materiality in Sustainability Accounting: Integrating Accountability and Stakeholder Heterogeneity

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