Accounting Frameworks Platform
The Accounting Frameworks Platform investigates different aspects of sustainability empirically, such as climate change, human well-being, equality and democratic governance. Accounting can be understood in the broad sense of governing, monitoring and measuring procedures – and methodologies and frameworks may be designed to create sustainable organizations and ultimately a sustainable society.
About
To advance decarbonization and the transition towards sustainable markets in business and policy practice, there is a specific need to operationalize the concept and translate it to the different practices that are used to make actors accountable for their actions.
Achieving this requires an understanding of the role of accounting in sustainability transformations and how calculative infrastructures work from the perspective of various market actors, including how they relate to issues like climate change, human rights, environmental protection or social justice.
These accounting frameworks are not only decisive for stakeholder information but ultimately govern the interactions between markets and market actors.
Research questions
With the aim of unveiling the antecedents for successful and less successful design and implementation of governance systems for organizations and companies, this platform addresses the following research questions:
- How can accounting and control systems support more sustainable business practices and supply chains?
- How do firms implement and use sustainability reporting standards in decision-making?
- How can accounting calculations enable or constrain the development of sustainable technologies?
Platform Director
Associate Professor
Department of Accounting
Stockholm School of Economics
Research projects
Below you will find a selection of research projects from the Accounting Frameworks Platform. They focus on how companies respond to social and environmental pressures, from executive incentives and corporate responsibility to fair wages, and the challenges of measuring and reporting sustainability impacts.
Ongoing projects
The Value of Nothing: Value Creation in Industrial Markets and the Organizing Effects of CO₂ Absence
HoSS researchers:
- Paolo Quattrone, Professor, Manchester Business School
- Torkel Strömsten, Associate Professor, Department of Accounting, Stockholm School of Economics
This project explores how companies create value from avoided CO₂ emissions. Through a case study of an industrial equipment supplier, the research examines how energy-saving technologies are increasingly marketed and evaluated based on the emissions they prevent rather than only their technical performance.
The study shows how companies use calculations, reporting tools, and internal advocates to make avoided emissions visible and economically meaningful. It also highlights tensions within organizations, where sustainability teams may see decarbonization as strategically important while operational teams worry about disruptions to existing production systems
Compromised Directors and Corporate Social Responsibility
HoSS researchers:
- Irina Gazizova, Assistant Professor, Department of Accounting, SSE
Other researchers or collaborators:
- Akram Khalilov, BI Norwegian Business School
This project investigates whether directors’ bankruptcy experiences affect firms’ Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) engagement. Corporate bankruptcies are highly visible events that may damage directors’ reputations and reduce their future labor-market opportunities. The study examines whether directors respond to such reputational shocks by promoting CSR activities at other firms where they concurrently serve on the board.
The study finds that firms increase CSR engagement following the bankruptcy experience of one of their directors. The effect is particularly strong when directors face greater reputational concerns and have more influence within the firm. The findings show how directors’ personal reputational incentives can shape firms’ socially responsible behavior and broader corporate governance outcomes.
“The score is not the point”: Impact measurement beyond indicators in an international NGO
HoSS researchers:
- Emilia Cederberg, Assistant Professor, Department of Accounting, SSE
- Lukas Goretzki, Professor, Department of Accounting, SSE
- Kalle Kraus, Professor, Department of Accounting, SSE
- Jan Pfister, Associate Professor, University of Turku
This project examines how NGOs measure and understand their social impact beyond traditional metrics and donor-driven targets. Focusing on an international NGO, the study explores a digital tool designed to capture stories and experiences from local communities rather than relying only on numerical indicators.
Through interviews, observations, and document analysis, the research investigates how digital technologies shape participation, learning, and accountability within global aid organizations. The project highlights both the opportunities and challenges of combining qualitative experiences with data-driven evaluation methods.
Does Public Attention Raise Executives’ Biodiversity Awareness? Evidence from Conference Calls in Europe
HoSS researchers:
- Ting Dong, Assistant Professor, Department of Accounting, SSE
- Irina Gazizova, Assistant Professor, Department of Accounting, SSE
The project investigates whether public attention to biodiversity raises corporate executives’ awareness of biodiversity risks. Using conference call transcripts from European-listed firms, the study examines how increased public attention influences executives’ biodiversity-related discussions and communication practices. The findings show that higher public attention is associated with a greater likelihood of biodiversity discussions and less symbolic language in conference calls, suggesting more substantive engagement with biodiversity issues. However, the study does not find evidence that increased awareness translates into concrete corporate actions related to biodiversity.
Navigating ambiguity and complexity in carbon accounting: the role of carbon information and organizational actors’ perceptions
HoSS researcher:
- Chiara Crovini, Associate Professor, University of Florence
This project explores how organizations develop and use carbon accounting information under growing sustainability and reporting demands. Through a case study of a Nordic maritime and logistics company, the research examines how carbon data is interpreted and applied across areas such as compliance, planning, supplier relations, and customer communication.
The study highlights the complexity and uncertainty surrounding carbon calculations, particularly for indirect emissions and life-cycle assessments. It also shows how sustainability ambitions often need to be balanced against financial and operational priorities as organizations adapt to new reporting regulations and climate goals.
Project start date: September 2023
The project was partially funded by Aalborg University's Talent Program (2023-2025).
Executive bonus adjustments to industry non-financial violations
HoSS researcher:
- Mariya Ivanova, Associate Professor, NHH Norwegian School of Economics
Other researchers and collaborators:
- Francesca Franco, Bocconi University
- Claudia Imperatore, Bocconi University
This project examines the determinants of ESG-linked executive pay. Using data on corporate violations and bonus plan structures across S&P 1500 firms over 2006–2019, the study examines whether firms respond to environmental and social misconduct by industry peers by introducing ESG metrics into their executives' bonus formulas.
The findings suggest that they do: firms are significantly more likely to adopt ESG metrics in their incentive contracts when peer violations in their industry increase, particularly in competitive markets where reputational exposure is greater. A sobering counterpart to this finding is that these metric adjustments appear to have limited impact on future ESG misconduct raising important questions about whether ESG-linked pay represents genuine governance reform or primarily strategic signaling.
Completed projects
From minimum wage to fair living wages in the fashion industry
HoSS researchers:
- Yiwen Lu, PhD Student, Department of Accounting, SSE
- Marek Reuter, Assistant Professor, EDHEC Business School
- Torkel Strömsten, Associate Professor, Department of Accounting, SSE
Main project stakeholder:
- H&M Group
In recent decades, the “living wage”, a discourse that seeks to support fairer wages, has gained traction in many areas of society. While the extant literature has drawn attention to how predominantly calculative accounting practices, concepts and norms have been implicated in low wage issues in organizations and society, there is still a lack of studies on the application of accounting practices that claim to promote fairer wages.
This case study of a fast fashion supply chain investigates how a wage governance mechanism moves from complying with a minimum wage to constructing a fair living wage in its global supply chains, particularly in the context of Bangladesh and India. By drawing attention to the qualitative and collective dimensions of wage decisions, it investigates how control practices under the living wage discourse can reframe wage decision making on site at supplier firms. More specifically, the findings illustrate how wage-related supplier controls developed from a purely calculative, monetary focus to also accommodate non-monetary and qualitative considerations on enhancing workers’ living standards.
Project start date: July 2019
This project was partially funded by Mistra, the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research.
Consumers take issue with responsible consumption – but not with the premise of individual responsibility
HoSS researchers:
- Friederike Döbbe, Assistant Professor, University of Bath
- Emilia Cederberg, Assistant Professor, Department of Accounting, SSE
In the fall of 2019, a major Swedish consumer goods company launched a campaign with a message that called on consumers to switch their consumption to cut greenhouse gas emissions. To illustrate the emission-saving potential, the campaign used a calculation and comparison with transport emissions. The campaign was heavily criticized by consumers on social media and through formal complaints to the consumer protection agency. This qualitative study analyzes the campaign and the reactions to it.
Marketing campaigns that draw on environmental and climate change claims are increasingly common but also coming under increased scrutiny from both regulators and the public. The study offers a “cautionary tale” for marketers, as consumers are critical of both simple win-win arguments and the consequences of promoting one consumption choice over another.
Project dates: 2020 to 2023
Greening the trucks
HoSS researcher:
- Torkel Strömsten, Associate Professor, Department of Accounting, SSE
Other researchers and collaborators:
- KTH Industrial Management and Economics
- Siemens
Main project stakeholder:
- Scania
This large study on the globally recognized Swedish truck manufacturer, Scania, studied the company’s transformation towards a solution-based business model, where sustainability through aligning the company to the 2015 Paris Agreement’s 1,5 degree target plays a key role. Scania is undergoing a major transformation where large investments in electrification are being made. Scania was among the first in its industry to adopt and commit to the Science Based Targets initiative and researchers from the Accounting Frameworks Platform follow this work closely through interviews, meetings and workshops. Scania is also involved in SSE’s teaching and provides guest lectures around the topics of sustainability and business transformation.
Project dates: 2018 – 2022
This project was funded by Misum (now HoSS) and Handelsbankens Forskningsstiftelser.
Can Politicians Jeopardize Public Private Partnerships? The Case of the Mottarone Cable Car Crash
HoSS researcher:
- Gianluca F. Delfino, Assistant Professor, Department of Accounting, SSE
Public private partnerships are widely adopted governance arrangements, yet they remain vulnerable to accountability challenges, particularly in ensuring that private contractors act in the public interest. Using the fatal Mottarone cable car crash in Italy as a case study, the research shows how political pressure during the COVID-19 crisis led to reduced regulatory oversight and departures from contractual rules.
This project looked at how political intervention can weaken accountability in public-private partnerships, highlighting how political actors can undermine monitoring systems and blur responsibility within partnerships between public authorities and private operators. The findings contribute to research on ethics and accountability by showing how weakened controls can increase the risk of opportunistic behavior and serious failures in essential public services.
Project start date: 2021
