socialaccountingforsociallymindedorganizations.doc

SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ACCOUNTING: THE EXPANDED VALUE ADDED STATEMENT  by Laurie Ingrid Mook A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Adult Education and Counselling Psychology Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto ? Copyright by Laurie Ingrid Mook (2007) Social and Environmental Accounting: The Expanded Value Added Statement Doctor of Philosophy (2007) Laurie Ingrid Mook Department of Adult Education and Counselling Psychology University of Toronto Abstract The Expanded Value Added Statement (EVAS) makes a significant contribution to the field of accounting by highlighting hitherto invisible dimensions and integrating them into a single accounting statement. This, in turn, helps to tell a much richer performance story of organizations and opens up new possibilities for organizational and social change. The EVAS recognizes established traditions in the field of accounting, but at the same time pushes the envelope aiming at viable changes in accounting practices that nurture a more sustainable society. It provides a considerable advance in social accounting by integrating economic, social and environmental factors in a format that is applicable to different organization types, time dimensions, and contexts. The EVAS has four main influences: mainstream accounting, critical accounting, social accounting, and sustainability. Mainstream accounting, particularly the progressive practice of value added accounting, highlights the wealth created (or destroyed) and distributed through the results of labour and capital in transforming external goods and services. Critical accounting contributed with two insights: that accounting is not a neutral activity, and that accounting practices are shaped by and can in turn can shape social reality. Social accounting, especially the subfield of integrated social accounting, has provided a significant precedent for the EVAS by broad