TY - JOUR
T1 - Analysis of the structure and evolution of sustainability accounting research
T2 - a 41-year review
AU - Owusu, Godfred Matthew Yaw
AU - Ofori-Owusu, Charles
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024, Emerald Publishing Limited.
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - Purpose: In the accounting field, sustainability accounting (SA) has evolved as a valuable tool that links improvements in environmental, social and governance issues to financial performance. This study aims to examine the structure and evolution of SA research, map the state of knowledge and analyse the literature trends and gaps. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopts a bibliometric review technique with data sourced from the Scopus database. A total of 7,049 extant literature spanning from 1982 to 2022 was analysed using the VOSviewer software. Findings: The authors find a significant growth in the number of publications on SA research, primarily driven by collaboration among researchers from Europe and America. The analysis highlights emerging themes, structure and discusses in detail the changing phases of SA research over the past four decades while highlighting key events that have impacted the development of SA research. Furthermore, the dominant theories used by extant studies are discussed and potential avenues for future research are provided. The authors draw the attention of the research community to the dominant authors, the most cited articles, prominent publication outlets and countries advancing research in this field. Originality/value: This study advances knowledge on SA research by providing a retrospective assessment of the state of knowledge in the field while highlighting avenues for future research.
AB - Purpose: In the accounting field, sustainability accounting (SA) has evolved as a valuable tool that links improvements in environmental, social and governance issues to financial performance. This study aims to examine the structure and evolution of SA research, map the state of knowledge and analyse the literature trends and gaps. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopts a bibliometric review technique with data sourced from the Scopus database. A total of 7,049 extant literature spanning from 1982 to 2022 was analysed using the VOSviewer software. Findings: The authors find a significant growth in the number of publications on SA research, primarily driven by collaboration among researchers from Europe and America. The analysis highlights emerging themes, structure and discusses in detail the changing phases of SA research over the past four decades while highlighting key events that have impacted the development of SA research. Furthermore, the dominant theories used by extant studies are discussed and potential avenues for future research are provided. The authors draw the attention of the research community to the dominant authors, the most cited articles, prominent publication outlets and countries advancing research in this field. Originality/value: This study advances knowledge on SA research by providing a retrospective assessment of the state of knowledge in the field while highlighting avenues for future research.
KW - Bibliometric analysis
KW - Corporate social responsibility
KW - Environmental accounting
KW - Sustainability accounting
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85193936464&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1108/MEDAR-11-2022-1846
DO - 10.1108/MEDAR-11-2022-1846
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85193936464
SN - 2049-372X
JO - Meditari Accountancy Research
JF - Meditari Accountancy Research
ER -