Greenhouse Gas Emissions Research in Top-Ranked Journals: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

In this chapter, we conduct a metadata analysis of articles published in accounting, business and finance journals ranked by Australian Business Dean Council (ABDC), and benchmarked against the Chartered Association of Business Schools (ABS) ranking, that discuss firm- and country-level greenhouse gas (GHG) emission practices and reporting. Number of publications on GHG research, research methods, number of citations and ratio, across countries and continents are some of the topics we cover. We employ a list of articles on accounting, business and finance journals ranked A* and A in the ABDC journal rankings from 2015 to 2022. The study uses a structured literature review to analyse 74 papers on GHG reporting practices at the firm- and country level. Although this line of enquiry is still nascent and developing, the study found underrepresentation of Africa and the Middle East in GHG literature generally. In addition, majority of the articles examined also concentrate on quantitative methods. Most of the articles on GHG research are A-ranked in the ABDC ranking scheme. It was also found that few studies focus on the countries and companies with the highest emissions. While there has been some progress in interrogating GHG across the globe, there is still much room for further research. A key area of future research is exploring the GHG reporting practices in the African and the Middle Eastern sub-regions. There is also a need to examine countries and companies with high emissions. A further study needs to explore the benefits of other research methods in addition to quantitative methods, as different research methods could yield different insights that would enhance research-based conclusions.

Citation

Michael, E.E., Dabel-Moses, J.N., Olateju, D.J., Emmanuel, I.D. and Michael, V.E. (2023), "Greenhouse Gas Emissions Research in Top-Ranked Journals: A Meta-Analysis", Tauringana, V. and Moses, O. (Ed.) Green House Gas Emissions Reporting and Management in Global Top Emitting Countries and Companies (Advances in Environmental Accounting & Management, Vol. 11), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 11-27. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-359820230000011002