Abstract
This paper looks at the role of accounting in a major environmental infrastructural project, the flooding of Lake Pedder in Tasmania in the 1960s. This was a contentious political decision in which accounting information was important and decisive. The paper found that accounting was used selectively and creatively to legitimate decision-making supporting a cost-benefit calculus. Environmental considerations were rendered invisible, marginalised and excluded from the evaluation. Accounting was used as an impression management tool through selectivity, bias and enhancement. It provides a rare illustration of the limitations of accounting for an infrastructural environmental decision using a real life, in depth case study.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 285-299 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Accounting Forum |
Volume | 40 |
Issue number | 4 |
Early online date | 25 Aug 2016 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Dec 2016 |
Keywords
- Environmental decision-making
- Environmental externalities
- Impression management
- Lake Pedder