Carbon legitimacy and disclosure

Project description

Over the past decade, social and political concerns have been raised with regard to carbon footprint-related matters. Stakeholders have increasingly pressured companies to manage/monitor and disclose their carbon emissions. Consequently, companies are making efforts to reduce their emissions, developing relevant strategies, and taking actions (e.g. voluntary carbon disclosure). However, companies showed slow response with effective action.

Voluntary disclosures could be potentially used as a legitimation strategy by companies to gain, maintain and/or repair their legitimacy. Companies could be perceived as legitimate because of their environmental related actions, as well as how society perceives such actions. There is a level of uncertainty, which surrounds carbon reduction activities and emissions measurements. This could encourage companies to use mechanisms, such as voluntary carbon disclosure, to respond to the environmental concerns and probably to protect their legitimacy. However, it is questionable whether carbon disclosure coincides with genuine improvements in the underlying carbon performance.

This project, led by Dr. Alireza Rohani with research collaboration from University of Sheffield and Cairo University, aims to explore the relationships between carbon disclosure, carbon performance, carbon legitimacy and economic performance.

Key research outputs

• Rohani, A., and Jabbour, M. (2024). Carbon Legitimacy in UK Companies: Actions or Words?. Journal of Applied Accounting research, 5(2), 298-324.
• Rohani, A., Jabbour, M., and Aliyu, S. (2023). Corporate Incentives for Obtaining Higher Level of Carbon Assurance: Seeking Legitimacy or Improving Performance?. Journal of Applied Accounting Research, 24(4), 701-725. 
• Rohani A, Jabbour M, and Abdel-Kader M (2021). Carbon performance, carbon disclosure, and economic performance: the mediating role of carbon (media) legitimacy in the UK. International Journal of Accounting and Economics Studies, 9(1), 8-20.

Research activity

• European Accounting Association congress (EAA), 2017, Valencia, Spain.
• Management Accounting Research Group (MARG) conference, 2015, Birmingham, UK.

Staff