Environmental Management Accounting Adoption in Listed Manufacturing Firms in Sri Lanka: Contingency Theory Perspective

Abstract

Environmental management accounting (EMA) has become trending topic at present because, the business community can more easily manage its environmental and associated economic performance by adopting EMA. The research presented here aimed to extend the knowledge about EMA by investigating whether there is tendency to adopt EMA by listed manufacturing firms in Sri Lanka. Drawing on contingency theory, investigation is driven to identify the circumstances under which organizations were more likely to engage with EMA. In order to collect the data, questionnaire was distributed to 40 listed manufacturing firms’ Accountants. According to correlation and regression analysis, data suggested that EMA was associated with environmental strategy, managerial Commitment and environmentallysensitive industries. Conversely, organizational structure was not found to be associated with EMA. Findings support to the practical implication of EMA. These findings support the potential of contingency-based research to further current knowledge and understanding of the reasons behind EMA development.