Table Of ContentAccounting, Finance, Sustainability, Governance & Fraud:
Theory and Application
Sandro Brunelli
Emiliano Di Carlo Editors
Accountability,
Ethics and
Sustainability
of Organizations
New Theories, Strategies and Tools
for Survival and Growth
Accounting, Finance, Sustainability, Governance
& Fraud: Theory and Application
SeriesEditor
Kıymet Tunca Çalıyurt, Iktisadi ve Idari Bilimler Fakultes, Trakya University
BalkanYerleskesi,Edirne,Turkey
This series acts as a forum for book publications on current research arising from
debatesaboutkeytopicsthathaveemergedfromglobaleconomiccrisesduringthe
past severalyears. The importanceofgovernance andthewill todeal with corrup-
tion,fraud,andbadpractice,arethemesfeaturedinvolumespublishedintheseries.
These topics are not only of concern to businesses and their investors, but also to
governments and supranational organizations, such as the United Nations and the
EuropeanUnion.Accounting,Finance,Sustainability,Governance&Fraud:Theory
and Application takes on a distinctive perspective to explore crucial issues that
currently have little or no coverage. Thus the series integrates both theoretical
developments and practical experiences to feature themes that are topical, or are
deemedtobecometopicalwithinashorttime.Theserieswelcomesinterdisciplinary
researchcoveringthetopicsofaccounting,auditing,governance,andfraud.
Moreinformationaboutthisseriesathttp://www.springer.com/series/13615
(cid:129)
Sandro Brunelli Emiliano Di Carlo
Editors
Accountability, Ethics
and Sustainability
of Organizations
New Theories, Strategies and Tools
for Survival and Growth
Editors
SandroBrunelli EmilianoDiCarlo
DepartmentofManagementandLaw DepartmentofManagementandLaw
UniversityofRomeTorVergata UniversityofRomeTorVergata
Rome,Italy Rome,Italy
ISSN2509-7873 ISSN2509-7881 (electronic)
Accounting,Finance,Sustainability,Governance&Fraud:TheoryandApplication
ISBN978-3-030-31192-6 ISBN978-3-030-31193-3 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31193-3
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Preface
The aftermath of financial scandals has fostered the consciousness that the share-
holders’ profit maximization, especially in the short term, does not improve the
wellnessforeitherfirmsorsociety.Suchanissue,ontheonehand,questionstherole
ofthefirmsintheeconomyand,ontheotherhand,queriesthevalidityofcapitalism
asthebestmodeltofostereconomicgrowth.Thewell-knownbelief“toobigtofail”
hasbeenjeopardizedbyfacts.Thisdeterminedsignificantdamagesintermsofjobs
losses,fewertaxcollections,considerabledropsinmoneysavingsandsoon.
Inthisscenario,scientificcommunityhastomoveonfromthetraditionalscope
of business activity represented by the profit towards a broader purpose, which
embraces the well-being of society as a whole. As a consequence, academics and
social scientists are looking for other theories or have endeavoured other existing
theories,suchasthestakeholdertheory.
Analysingthevarioustheories aboutcorporate social responsibility, intheliter-
aturefourmaindimensionsrelatedtotheultimateaimofcompanieswereidentified:
(1)pursuingobjectivestogetprofitinthelongterm,(2)usingthepowerofbusiness
in a responsible manner, (3) taking into account claims from all stakeholders and
(4)fosteringethicalcorrectedbehaviours.Inouropinion,mergingthesedimensions,
futureresearch shouldstrivetooutlineanewtheory,whichallowsustoovercome
thelimitsoftheexistingones.However,itrequiresaprofoundknowledgeofreality
andastrongethicsbasis.
In other words, scholars should devise new theories and/or models aimed at
capturing and summarizing the aforementioned dimensions, debarring all of the
aspects that are not oriented to the common good. Delving more into the issue, it
iseasytonotethateachgroupofstakeholdershasinterestsonlyinsomedimensions
overanother.Hence,acriticalpointtobeginwithisconsideringthefirmitselfasan
entity, distinguished from all theother stakeholders,with its proper aim. Once this
conceptisgrasped,theultimategoalofwhatevertypeoforganizationshouldbeto
recognizetheabilitytoactively—andpositively—contributetothecommongood.
Onthesamewavelength,in2015,UnitedNationsdefined17SustainableDevel-
opmentGoals(SDGs)aimedtoachievethedevelopmentofcountriesconsistentwith
v
vi Preface
thecommongood.Tothatend,effortsshoulddealwiththeimprovementofhealth
and education, reduction of inequality and defence of the environment. Therefore,
theobjectivesofbothorganizations(profitandnon-profit)andindividualsshouldbe
alignedinordertofacechallengesincludedineachSDG.
Inaccordancewiththispreamble,thebookisorganizedintothreeparts.
The first part—Organizations Towards 2030: the Primary Interest of the Eco-
nomicEntity—treatsthereasonsbehindandthescopeofthefirminthecontempo-
raryera.Hence,inPartItheconceptof“primaryinterestofthefirm”isexploredin
depth.Itaddressestheconditionsthatguaranteethesurvivalandgrowthoffirmsas
well as the achievement of the common good for the various stakeholders and
society as a whole. Within this perspective, the mission statement of organizations
was queried in order to highlight its importance over time. Besides, other critical
issues, which scholars active in the field of business administration have to disen-
tangleinthenextyears,wereproposedinthefirstpart.Inparticular,ithasshedlight
onsomeissues(i.e.economicdemocracy,fairwagesandlogicaltaxschemes)that
so far were analysed mainly from a macroeconomic standpoint. Approaches and
tools, such as integrated thinking and reporting, may support accountants to over-
comethesolefinancialdisclosure.Itisfundamental,indeed,embracingbothfinan-
cialandnon-financialmeasuresforadequatelyinformingabouthowanorganization
isperformingandhowitwillperforminthefuture.
The second part—Financial and Non-Financial Reporting and Sustainability:
Challenges and Changes—is devoted to exploring the newness in the area of
non-financial reporting and auditing according to recent changes in legislation at
Europeanandsinglecountrylevels.Firstofall,adescriptiveandanalyticalreviewof
how the Directive 2014/95/EU has been transposed in most important European
countries is provided. Then, the debate moves on with an empirical investigation
aimed at assessing how firms are coping with climate change issues in their
non-financialreportingdisclosure.ThefocusoftheanalysiswasonItalyandFrance.
Lastly, consistently with the effects engendered by the mentioned Directive and in
linewiththedemandforhigheraccountability,anarrativeliteraturereviewaround
the role of auditors to assure sustainability in financial reporting and, indeed, the
continuityofthefirmsiscarriedout,highlightingtheimportanceofthesocialaudit.
Thethirdpart—TheRelevanceofPublicSector:NewPathwaysforSustainable
Accounting, Accountability and Performance—shifted the analysis on the public
sector. Firstly, the theme of healthcare sustainability was addressed. Developing
sustainablepracticeswithinhealthsystemsisfundamentalnotonlytoguaranteethe
righttocarebutalsotoenhancethegrowthofacountry.Moreover,thedemographic
dynamics in developed countries ask for urgent actions from healthcare organiza-
tionsnotonlyintermsofmacropoliciesbutalsoatthesingleorganizationlevel.In
thissense,theroleofaccountantsandmanagerscannolongerbeneglected.Within
this complex mosaic, therefore, management accounting tools could represent the
commonlanguagetoorient healthmanagement towards ahigher sustainablevalue
forthepatient.Asaccountingscholarsweshouldhelppoliticiansandeconomistsin
theallocatingprocessofpublicresourcesintothepublicsubsectorsofeverysingle
country. Accordingly, focusing on the European context, harmonization of public
Preface vii
accounts both at European level and at a national level represents a never-ending
debate. Hence, it deserves a specific analysis in order to disentangle the pros and
cons of accounting principles. This matter is paramount in order to foster a fair
economic policy within the European Union and to operate in the lens of SDGs.
Taking into account the relevance of the environmental dimension in the public
sector, the last chapter deals with the map of leading practices and their environ-
mental impact. Hence, a study about the state of the art of the Green Public
Procurement in the light of the newest tendencies promoted by the United Nations
intheAgenda2030isproposed.
Rome,Italy SandroBrunelli
EmilianoDiCarlo
Acknowledgements
TheeditorsaregratefultotheUniversityofRomeTorVergata,whichhasprovided
fundsusefulformakingallresearchesoutlinedinthebook.Thisbookisoneofthe
results of the project “Fostering the debate between continuity, ethics and overall
sustainabilityofthefirm:Buildinganewtheoryforthesurvivorandgrowthofthe
firms”, grant code “SustGc17”, which sees Prof. Sandro Brunelli as principal
investigator. All information about the public competition and resource granted is
available at: https://web.uniroma2.it/module/name/Content/action/showpage/con
tent_id/22793
Chapter1
Chapter1“TheRealEntityTheoryandthePrimaryInterestoftheFirm:
Equilibrium Theory, Stakeholder Theory and Common Good Theory”
shouldbeentirelyattributedtoEmilianoDiCarlo.
Chapter2
ThesectionsincludedinChap.2“TheIncentivesofaCommonGoodBased
CSRforSDG’sAchievement:theImportanceofMissionStatement”should
beattributedtoEmilianoDiCarlo(2.1,2.2and2.3)andCristinaQuaranta(2.4,
2.5andrelatedsubparagraphs,2.6,2.7and2.8).
Chapter3
ThesectionsincludedinChap.3“SDGsAchievement:Commitment,Chan-
nels of Action and the Role of Integrated Reporting in the Disclosure
Mechanisms” should be attributed to Sandro Brunelli (3.1, 3.2, 3.3 and related
subparagraphs)andFrancescoRanalli(3.4).
Chapter4
The sections included in Chap. 4 “Harmonization of Non-Financial
ReportingRegulationinEurope:aStudyoftheTranspositionoftheDirec-
tive 2014/95/EU” should be attributed to Silvia Testarmata (4.2, 4.4, 4.4.6 and
4.5),Mirella Ciaburri(4.3andrelated subparagraphs),Silvia Sergiacomi(4.4.1,
4.4.2,4.4.3,4.4.4and4.4.5)andFabioFortunaandSilviaTestarmata(4.1).
ix
x Acknowledgements
Chapter5
ThesectionsincludedinChap.5“Corporations’Eco-Consciousnessinthe
New Deal of Non-Financial Information Disclosure System: Preliminary
Evidence from Italian and French Practices” should be attributed to Sandro
Brunelli(5.1,5.3,5.5and5.6)andPascaleDelvaille(5.2and5.4).
Chapter6
Chapter 6 “The Role of Auditors to Improve Sustainability in Financial
Reporting”shouldbeentirelyattributedtoChiaraCarlino.
Chapter7
The sections included in Chap. 7 “Value-Based Healthcare Paradigm for
Healthcare Sustainability” should be attributed to Camilla Falivena (7.1, 7.2,
7.3,7.5and7.6)andGabrielePalozzi(7.4).
Chapter8
Chapter 8 “Public Sector Accounting and the Sustainability of Public
FinanceamongAccountingBases,HarmonizationandFlexibilityConcerns”
shouldbeentirelyattributedtoAlessandroGiosi.
Chapter9
The sections included in Chap. 9 “The State of the Art of Green Public
Procurement in Europe: Documental Analysis of European Practices”
should be attributed to Irene Litardi (9.3 and 9.4), Daniele Alimonti (9.1 and
9.2)andIreneLitardiandGloriaFiorani(9.5).
