[01] Charles Adusei, Department of Accounting, Finance and Banking, Garden City University College, Kumasi, Ghana.

This paper studied the benefits, drivers and challenges of social and environmental reporting in the mining sector using Newmont Ghana as a case study. Respondents were surveyed to determine their perceptions on issues pertaining to social and environmental accounting and reporting whiles archival study was done using their annual reports and other documents between the period of 2009 and 2015. Based on descriptive statistics and Kendall Coefficient of Concordance, the study revealed that the level of disclosure increased during the period. The major benefits of social and environmental reporting were community support and cost savings, its key drivers were stakeholder pressure and the extent of regulations and challenges as fear of unknown and limited appeal of the report. The study recommends that firms must report on their social and environmental activities even if it is negative.

Social and Environmental Issues, Mining, Extractive Industry, Newmont Ghana Limited

[01] Jonker, J. and de Witte, M. (2006), Management Models for Corporate Social Responsibility. Springer. Heidelberg. [02] Golob, U., and Bartlett, J. L. (2007). Communicating about corporate social responsibility: A comparative study of CSR reporting in Australia and Slovenia. Public Relations Review, 33 (1), 1-9. [03] Cooper, S. M., and Owen, D. L. (2007). Corporate social reporting and stakeholder accountability: The missing link. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 32 (7-8), 649-667. [04] Gray, R., Adams, C., and Owen, D. (2014). Accountability, Social Responsibility and Sustainability: Accounting for Society and the Environment. Hemel Hempstead: Pearson Publishers. [05] Marquis, C., and Toffel, M. (2011). The Globalization of Corporate Environmental Disclosure: Accountability or Greenwashing? Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 11-115. [06] Adams, C. A. and Larrinaga-González, C. (2007), Introduction: engaging with organisations in pursuit of improved sustainability accounting and performance, Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 20 No. 3, pp. 333-355. [07] Foo, L. M., (2007). Stakeholder engagement in emerging economies: considering the strategic benefits of stakeholder engagement in a cross-cultural and geopolitical context. Corporate Governance, 7 (4): 379-387. [08] Berthelot, S., Cormier, D., and Magnan, M. (2003). Environmental disclosure research: review and synthesis. Journal of Accounting Literature, 22, 1. [09] Cormier, D., and Magnan, M. (2003). Environmental reporting management: a continental European perspective. Journal of Accounting and public Policy, 22 (1), 43-62. [10] Cormier, D., Magnan, M., and Van Velthoven, B. (2005). Environmental disclosure quality in large German companies: economic incentives, public pressures or institutional conditions? European accounting review, 14 (1), 3-39. [11] Barako, D. G. (2007), Determinants of voluntary disclosures in Kenyan companies annual reports, African Journal of Business Management, Vol. 1 No. 5, pp. 113-128. [12] Freeman, R. E., Harrison, J. S., Wicks, A. C., Parmar, B. L., and de Colle, S., (2010). Stakeholder theory: the state of the art. Cambridge University Press, New York, United States. [13] Gull, G. (2013), The Intent of Business: Organising for a more sustainable Future. Palgrave Macmillan. London. [14] Ferrell, O. C., Thorne, D. M. and Ferrell, L. (2011) Social Responsibility and Business. 4^th Edition. South-Western Cengage Learning. [15] Savitz, W. A. and Weber, K. (2006). The Triple Bottom Line. John Wiley & Sons Inc. San Francisco. [16] Milne, M. J. and Gray, R. (2007), Future prospects for corporate sustainability reporting, in Unerman, J., Bebbington, J. and O’Dwyer, B. (Eds), Sustainability Accounting and Accountability, Routledge, New York, NY, pp. 184-207. [17] Wilmshurst, T. D., and Frost, G. R. (2000). Corporate environmental reporting: a test of legitimacy theory. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 13 (1), 10-26. [18] Crane, A., Matten, D., and Moon, J. (2004). Stakeholders as citizens? Rethinking rights, participation, and democracy. Journal of Business Ethics, 53 (1-2), 107-122. [19] Gray, R. (2002). The social accounting project and accounting organizations and society, accounting is applied in the financial statements of companies in Gaza strip. Journal of Islamic University, (Human Studies Series), 15 (1), 239-281. [20] Crowther, D. (2002): A Social Critique of Corporate Reporting: A Semiotic Analysis of Corporate Financial and Environmental Reporting. Hampshire, Ashgate. [21] Gibson, K., and O'Donovan, G. (2007). Corporate governance and environmental reporting: an Australian study. Corporate Governance: An International Review, 15 (5), 944-956. [22] Adams, C., and Zutshi, A. (2004). Corporate social responsibility: why business should act responsibly and be accountable. Australian accounting review, 14 (34), 31-39. [23] Hamilton, J. (2004). All the news that's fit to sell: How the market transforms information into news. Princeton University Press. [24] O'Donovan, G. (2002). Environmental disclosures in the annual report: Extending the applicability and predictive power of legitimacy theory. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 15 (3), 344-371. [25] Deegan, C. (2002). Introduction: the legitimising effect of social and environmental disclosures-a theoretical foundation. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 15 (3), 282-311. [26] Cho, C. H., and Patten, D. M. (2007). The role of environmental disclosures as tools of legitimacy: A research note. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 32 (7), 639-647. [27] De Villiers, C., Van Staden, C., and Naiker, V. (2009). Good corporate governance makes for good environmental performance. In AFAANZ conference (pp. 5-7). [28] Hooks, J., and Van Staden, C. (2007). The corporatization and commercialization of local body entities: A study of reported financial performance. Abacus, 43 (2), 217-240. [29] Beretta, S., and Bozzolan, S. (2004). A framework for the analysis of firm risk communication. The International Journal of Accounting, 39 (3), 265-288. [30] Brammer, S., and Pavelin, S. (2006). Voluntary environmental disclosures by large UK companies. Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, 33 (7-8), 1168-1188. [31] De Vaus, D. A., (2002). Surveys in Social Research. 5^th Edition. Allen & Unwin. Crows Nest. [32] Strang, K. D. (2015). The Palgrave Handbook of Research Design in Business and Management. New York. Palgrave Macmillan. [33] Abbot, M. L. and McKinney, J. (2013), Understanding and Applying Research Design. Hoboken. John Wiley & Sons Inc. [34] Hancock, D. R. and Algozzine, B., (2006). Doing Case Study Research: A Practical Guide for Beginning Researchers. Teachers College Press. New York. [35] Denscombe, M. (2007), The Good Research Guide for small-scale social research projects. 3^rd Edition. Open University Press. Maidenhead. [36] Bordens, K. S. and Abbott, B. B. (2008). Research Design and Methods: A Process Approach. 8^thEdition. McGraw-Hill Companies. New York. [37] Bethlehem, J. (2009), Applied Survey Methods: A Statistical Perspective. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York. [38] Kimberlin, C. l. and Winsterstein, A. G., (2008). Validity and Reliability of Measurement Instruments used in research. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 65 (23), 2276-2284. [39] Jenkins, H. and Yakovleva, N. (2006), corporate social responsibility in the mining industry: exploring trends in social and environmental disclosure, Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 14 Nos 3/4, pp. 271-284.