environmental pollution disclosures in Tunisia”

The aim of this paper is to examine the mental models of actors in Tunisian firms with respect to the environmental pollution. The authors use a cognitive map to observe these mental diagrams and to visualize ways to conceptualize the environmental pollution and to understand this concept through the presentation and analysis of the cognitive maps of Tunisian firm’s actors. Each actor’s systematic exploration grid shows a balance of concepts that expresses their cognitive orientation. Thus, the authors visualize the concepts (variables) that structure the cognitive universe of the actors, which is projected in terms of influences and dependencies. This research provides some lines of thought about environmental and pollution reporting that should be explored further. The research can only help to launch a debate on corporate accountability and transparency.


Introduction 9 
Under the umbrella of sustainability and the triple bottom line (i.e., economic, social and environmental issues), and the global environmental concerns, CED have received an increased attention in accounting literature over the last two decades.These types of disclosures appear to enhance stakeholders' perception about a company's environmental performance.In recent years, firms have an obligation to be socially responsible to their stakeholders through the development of environmental management systems and the adoption of environmental reporting.In fact, pollution and environmental issues become the focus of increasing attention and concern (Branco and Rodrigues, 2007;Deegan, 2002;Wilmshurst and Frost, 2000;Cormier and Gordon, 2001;Vurro and Perrini, 2011).
Given the scarcity of studies on the CED in the emerging economies and the call for research on this topic by several previous works on CSR reporting such as Khan (2010) and Bonsón and Brdnarová (2014), we aimed to elucidate CED in Tunisia.In fact Khan (2010) argued that "a review of related literature suggests that CSR reporting issues have This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license, which permits re-use, distribution, and reproduction, provided the materials aren't used for commercial purposes and the original work is properly cited.become a necessary facet of business to substantiate companies' commitment to the society".Furthermore, Bonsón and Brdnarová (2014) state that "communication of social and environmental dimensions of the company plays a key role in the sustainable development of organizations, and therefore should be investigated more in depth".
Disclosure of environmental information is a response to the information needs of report users.This research paper wonders about the corporate environmental reporting.This information is often provided in a separate environmental report, but it may be also included within other forms of reporting, such as the annual report, or the sustainability report (which include the economic, environmental and social issues).In this paper, we focus only on the environmental disclosure about pollution within the firms' annual report.We should mention that environmental disclosure varies from firm to firm and from country to country, since there is no standard way for presenting and interpreting this issue (Crawford and Williams, 2010).In fact, CSR reporting in most developing and emerging countries still heavily relies on voluntary initiatives, but there are some developed countries with regulations making disclosure on CSR mandatory such as France (Bonsón and Brdnarová, 2014).
Several research studies focus on the topic of environmental disclosure in the developed countries (e.g., Zeghal and Ahmed, 1990;Gray et al., 1995;Campbell et al., 2003) and in the developing countries (e.g., Bayoud et al., 2012aBayoud et al., , 2012b;;Teoh and Thong, 1984;Khan, 2010).But this topic is not well explored in the emerging markets.Therefore, it becomes crucial to focus on environmental disclosure in emerging markets and more specifically in North Africa settings (e.g., Khlif et al., 2015;Hossain et al., 1994 Nowadays, Tunisian companies have involved in producing non-financial reports, especially in the areas of environmental and social issues.They make this communicating effort to various audiences to show their adherence to a broader set of responsibilities included in the new governance model.Few studies have analyzed the CSR disclosure in the Tunisian context (e.g., Driss and Jarboui, 2014; Khemir and Baccouche, 2010).This study contributes to the literature on environmental disclosure in emerging markets by analyzing the cognitive maps of this type of disclosure.

Institutional
framework.Environmental reporting regulation in Tunisia.We note that the environmental awareness in Tunisia is still low and that the economic actors are little informed about ecological issues.In fact, industrialization should not be at the expense of the environment.The environmental concerns and the presentation of environmental issues in the annual reports should be investigated especially for firms that operate in industries that highly contribute to pollution in Tunisia.Environmental accounting is an area that has not gained ground in Tunisian corporate financial reporting.This area is still neglected.
An idea about polluters in Tunisia.Laws regarding environmental issues.According to Adams (2002), the factors influencing the extent and nature of ethical, social and environmental reporting are classified as follows: i) corporate characteristics (size, industry, performance…), ii) general contextual factors (country of origin, cultural and economic context…), iii) the internal context (identity of company chair, existence of social reporting committee…).In particular, country of origin, social and political context, economic context, cultural context are influential determinants of the extent of environmental disclosure.These general contextual factors help to explain differences in environmental concerns, the strength of green politics and, more specifically, the demands for firms to act as 'green' firms and to be socially responsible.This author finds that the process of CSR reporting depends on country of origin, corporate size and corporate culture.
Environmental accounting or green accounting covers information relating to all aspects of the environment such as sustainable operations and environment expenditure.This is relatively a recent branch in the domain of accounting and still it is at an early stage of development across the world.2011) argue for blending different theoretical foundations from the management and organization literature in order to draw comparisons between current global CSR practice and the potential for its further adoption in emerging markets.It is more suitable to mobilize multi-theoretical frameworks to explain the phenomenon of environmental disclosure, since there isn't a theory specifically designed to explain it (Branco and Rodrigues, 2007;Alberti-Alhtaybat et al., 2012).According to Gray et al. (1995), three theoretical approaches have been generally used in the corporate social and environmental reporting literature: (1) decisionusefulness approach; (2) economic theory approach; and (3) social and political theory approach.Nevertheless, other theories could deal with the environmental reporting, such as resource dependency theory and institutional theory.Environmental disclosure could be explained by the competing predictions from economic base and socio-political theories.

Capital market transactions.
The decisionusefulness approach suggests that environmental information may exert an effect on share price behavior through future cash flows or cost of capital (Dhaliwal et al., 2011;Dhaliwal et al., 2012).Firms that voluntary engage in environmental disclosure reduce their cost of finance (cost of equity capital or cost of debt).Therefore, these firms have the opportunity to raise equity capital with lower costs, since investors are more attracted by ethical investing on their portfolio investments decision.In addition, investors may accept a lower profitability in firms that disclose environmental values that are in line with their affinities and expectations.With respect to cost of debt, firms can get funds from banks with lower cost of debt when disclosing information dealing with pollution and environmental issues.If firm voluntarily engages in environmental disclosure, creditors will perceive this as a self-regulation mechanism undertaken by the firm to reduce the effect of expected future regulatory costs on firm's future cash flows.Creditors will, in this case, underestimate the default risk and thereby require lower cost of debt (Khlif et al., 2015).Jensen and Meckling (1976), the agency relation is regarded as follows: the separation of ownership from control could create a conflict between the shareholders' welfare and the managers' welfare.They argue that corporate disclosure is a governance mechanism, which tends to mitigate the agency costs.Economic theory approach suggests that environmental disclosure reduces information asymmetry between managers and external users of information especially investors.Accordingly, agency costs will be lower.Thus, the high commitment of the companies in CED mitigates agency problems.

Agency theory. According to
Besides, the majority of Tunisian firms are classified as family firms.Therefore, in this type of businesses, type II agency problems tend to be more intense than in other businesses.Ali et al. (2007) argue that these problems come from the conflict between the director shareholders and the nondirector shareholders.In this case, the family members tend to control their business through their substantial participation in the capital and in their position in the board of directors.

Legitimacy theory & stakeholders theory.
Social and political theory approach is based on stakeholder theory and the legitimacy theory perspectives.These theories have been widely used in accounting literature to explain environmental disclosure practice (Campbell et al., 2003;Deegan, 2002;Guthrie and Parker, 1989;Patten, 1992;Roberts, 1992;Wilmshurst and Frost, 2000).
Disclosure of environmental issues in the annual report is a fundamental requirement for a firm in order to satisfy the increasing information needs of its stakeholders.Stakeholder and legitimacy theories state that firms use environmental disclosure to enhance their status, provide information to stakeholders regarding their polluting activities and discharge the social contract between firms and environmental organizations.While legitimacy theory focuses on the expectations of society in general, stakeholder theory is more concerned with the demands of particular groups within the society and the ability of different stakeholders to put pressure on the firms to disclose environmental information (Deegan, 2002).
To conclude, stakeholder theory highlights that firms try to manage their relationships with numerous stakeholders who have varied needs.
Consequently, firms tend to disclose environmental information in order to gain the confidence of their stakeholders and to have effective communication with them.

Key concepts for environmental information
2.1.Air pollution.Air pollution is possibly the best known of all types of pollution.It is mainly caused by the gases and particles released into the atmosphere by cars, power plants, other industries or by natural events (volcano!).Acid rain and smog (dense smoke over cities) are the two results of air pollution that cause heart and lung problems for all animals, not just humans.

Soil pollution.
Soil pollution is often of industrial origin, that is, some companies do not always take the necessary precautions to avoid toxic waste leaks.Agriculture is also one of the causes of soil pollution.Just think fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides.

Water pollution.
The pollution water is often directly related to soil pollution.The rain quickly carries pesticides and other toxic substances to land, seas and oceans.Eutrophication of lakes and rivers is one of the effects of this pollution.It leads to, among others, an increase in the presence of algae, as well as a decrease in animal and plant biodiversity.

Radioactive pollution.
This type of pollution is mainly caused by industries in the production of electricity from a nuclear power plant.Wastes that result from the process are radioactive and very dangerous to living beings: they emit dangerous particles that can cause tumors or mutations.

Noise pollution.
Noise pollution is perhaps not as damaging as the previous one, but it can still cause hearing problems, irritability, insomnia and even depression.However, it is difficult to determine the effects of this pollution on living beings other than humans.

Light pollution.
Light pollution refers to the abnormal or embarrassing nocture presence of light and the effect of this artificial light on the entire ecosystem.This topic is actually slightly controversial, because many deny whether it is an actual type of pollution.

Methodological tools.
We chose to examine the performances of the actors in the company by using a common technique in cognitive approaches, that of cognitive mapping.Cognitive mapping is a graphical modeling technique that has been used in numerous studies in management sciences.The cognitive map is not only tool for analyzing managerial cognition, but also it is the most popular for the presentation of cognitive structures (G.Nassreddine, J. Anis, 2012).

Description of the empirical investigation.
To meet the research objectives noted above, a survey was conducted among players in companies in Tunisia.We chose an exploratory approach using multiple case studies.Through the use of multiple case studies, we aimed to create a better understanding of the phenomenon by studying the phenomenon in its natural setting.The use of case studies is particularly interesting in the case of little-known phenomena.The case studies, thus, allowed multiple accounts of the specificities and characteristics of corporate governance.
The data were derived from 10 firms.The decision to base our study on a sample of firms from various sectors was based on the assumption that a variety of issues could be addressed.The output is a cognitive map for the actors that reflect their perceptions of the behavioral approach to corporate governance.
The method used to create the cognitive maps was the questionnaire.

The construction of the cognitive maps.
First, we will present the construction of the concepts and the methodological approach.Then, we will examine how the cards were developed.

Concepts.
We addressed this issue by the representations constructed by the players using the method of cognitive maps, which is a method that can be applied to poorly structured situations.An analysis based on cognitive maps can allow an understanding of the process of structuring, because the model is built or rebuilt simultaneously with the mental modeling.That is, this construction takes the form of an adapting structure.
The method helps to identify ways to achieve a given goal, the same way, it helps to identify the goals justifying the use of such means.Thus, the method facilitates communication and negotiation.The concepts are presented in the table below.Table 1.Key concepts for environmental information 3.5.The input.This step was designed to compile a matrix of direct influence between the variables in a scoring session.The matrix of direct influence (MID) describes the relationship of direct influence between the variables defining the system, and the matrix of direct potential influences (MIDP) represent the potential direct influences and dependencies between the existing and potential variables.The scoring has developed as the input matrix of direct influences (MID).The influences are rated from 0 to 3, with the ability to report potential influences.

Matrix of direct influences (MID).
The matrix of direct influence (MID) describes the relationship of the direct influences between the variables defining the system.

Matrix of direct potential influences (MIDP)
. The matrix of direct potential influences (MIDP) represents the potential direct influences and dependencies between the existing and potential variables.
It complements the MID and also takes into account possible relationships in the future.

Conclusion and implications of the research
Environmental information, which used to have a minor role in the company's reporting, is now actively involved in the process of the decision making by the users of corporate reporting.In addition, it helps stakeholders to assess whether the firm is a good corporate citizen.However, this development created new users' expectations about environmental and pollution information.This paper aims to explore the cognitive maps regarding environmental pollution information in a weak regulative setting.
This plan (Figure 1) visualizes the concepts (variables) structuring the cognitive universe of the actors that can be projected in terms of influences/dependencies.By the distribution of the scatter plot variables in this plan, particularly in relation to different quadrants, we can distinguish four major categories of variables.
The first quadrant includes the most prominent concepts in the dynamics of thought of the actors.For the actors in each organization, the notion of "air pollution" and "soil pollution" are the most dominant in their cognitions, reflecting an intention based on laws logic.
Faced with voluntary disclosures gaps, several studies (Gray et al., 1995; Deegan and Rankin, 1997) put forward the idea of regulatory responsibility for environmental companies to obtain better disclosures.
The second quadrant contains the relay variables that are by definition both very influential and very dependent.In analyzing the plan influences/dependencies, there are players for the concepts or ideas illustrating the concepts of "water pollution".
The third quadrant contains the dependent variables.They are both influential and not very dependent and, therefore, particularly sensitive.This quadrant shows the results that are explained by the variables and motor relay.
The fourth quadrant contains the variables that are simultaneously autonomous and influential, but only slightly dependent.These variables are relatively excluded from the dynamics of thought of the Tunisian companies.The plan's influences/dependencies show the existence of a single variable relating to economic factors.
To supervise the preparation and disclosure of these reports and help businesses to better meet the expectations of stakeholders, many guides have been developed by various national and international organizations (Enviro-reporting, 2007).Among these, the GRI Guidelines are the most known and used for voluntary disclosures.This research provides some lines of thought about environmental and pollution reporting that should be explored further.Our research can only help the launch of a debate on corporate accountability and transparency.Other studies could be carried out about the investment decision making on the basis of environmental and pollution information.More investigations into cognitive accounting regarding social disclosure should be addressed in Tunisian setting.Accounting for the environment and environmental reporting are implications of Islamic principles (Kamla, 2007;Kamla et al., 2006).This issue is worth to be more examined in further studies.Therefore, our findings are relevant for the producers and users of environmental and pollution reporting.With respect to producers, our results shed light on the importance of environmental disclosure as a tool to legitimize company's activities.With respect to users, our study contributes to the scarce body of the literature exploring the environmental and pollution reporting in emerging African countries.Finally, our findings may be of interest also to environmental organisms, which are focusing on the establishment of environmental and pollution reporting guidelines in emerging markets.While our study provides evidence that environmental disclosure remain under developed in Tunisia, regulators need to impose some standards to reduce uncertainty among stakeholders concerning this issue.This study recommends that there is a need to develop an environmental responsibility framework in Tunisia.A number of initiatives and pressures must be taken to encourage companies to improve their environmental reporting even the companies that considered as polluters.More concern of the environmental information stakeholders needs should be promoted in order to encourage Tunisian firms to disclose this type of information.

Table 2 .
Matrix of potential direct influences