Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Natural resource governance, accountability and legitimising propensity: insights from Ghana's oil and gas sector

Natural resource governance, accountability and legitimising propensity: insights from Ghana's... This study explores Ghanaian views about accountability discharge by firms and government in the context of the nation's newly discovered oil and gas resources. The research focusses on a range of issues relating to stakeholder interaction, communication flows and the impact of decision-making on Ghanaian lives, as perceived by individuals on the ground.Design/methodology/approachThe paper adapts elements of legitimacy theory to interpret the outcome of a series of semi-structured interviews with members of key accountee and accountor groups including citizens and representatives of the state and private firms in the oil and gas industry in Ghana.FindingsThe results indicate that rather than attempting to effect substantive accountability discharge, Ghana's government and oil and gas firms employ a wide range of legitimation strategies despite the apparently complete absence of the accountee power normally seen as driving the need for social contract repair.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings suggest that accountability discharge in Ghana is cursory at best, with several legitimising strategies in evidence. The representatives from state institutions appear to share some of the concerns, suggesting that the problems are entrenched and will require robust enforcement of a strengthened regulatory approach to effect meaningful change.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the literature on the discharge of institutional accountability by building on earlier conceptualisations of legitimacy theory to explore perceptions around a recent natural resource discovery. The analysis highlights grave concerns regarding the behaviour of state and corporate actors, one that runs counter to sub-Saharan African tradition. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies Emerald Publishing

Natural resource governance, accountability and legitimising propensity: insights from Ghana's oil and gas sector

Download PDF
24 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/natural-resource-governance-accountability-and-legitimising-propensity-E63c0GAXkX
Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
© Emerald Publishing Limited
ISSN
2042-1168
DOI
10.1108/jaee-08-2019-0153
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

This study explores Ghanaian views about accountability discharge by firms and government in the context of the nation's newly discovered oil and gas resources. The research focusses on a range of issues relating to stakeholder interaction, communication flows and the impact of decision-making on Ghanaian lives, as perceived by individuals on the ground.Design/methodology/approachThe paper adapts elements of legitimacy theory to interpret the outcome of a series of semi-structured interviews with members of key accountee and accountor groups including citizens and representatives of the state and private firms in the oil and gas industry in Ghana.FindingsThe results indicate that rather than attempting to effect substantive accountability discharge, Ghana's government and oil and gas firms employ a wide range of legitimation strategies despite the apparently complete absence of the accountee power normally seen as driving the need for social contract repair.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings suggest that accountability discharge in Ghana is cursory at best, with several legitimising strategies in evidence. The representatives from state institutions appear to share some of the concerns, suggesting that the problems are entrenched and will require robust enforcement of a strengthened regulatory approach to effect meaningful change.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the literature on the discharge of institutional accountability by building on earlier conceptualisations of legitimacy theory to explore perceptions around a recent natural resource discovery. The analysis highlights grave concerns regarding the behaviour of state and corporate actors, one that runs counter to sub-Saharan African tradition.

Journal

Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies – Emerald Publishing

Published: Jul 23, 2021

Keywords: Legitimacy; Ghana; Oil and gas; Accountability; Natural resource governance

References

  • Concealment of negative organisational outcomes: an agency theory perspective
    Abrahamson, E.; Park, C.
  • Environmental reporting practices and performance of timber firms in Ghana
    Agyei, S.; Yankey, B.
  • The AU, NEPAD and the promotion of good governance in Africa
    Akokpari, J.K.
  • Ownership and control of oil, gas, and mineral resources in Nigeria: between legality and legitimacy
    Aladeitan, L.
  • The double-edge of legitimisation
    Ashforth, B.E.; Gibbs, B.W.
  • Talking trash: legitimacy, impression management, and unsystematic risk in the context of the natural environment
    Bansal, P.; Clelland, I.
  • Natural resources, democracy and corruption
    Bhattacharyya, S.; Hodler, R.
  • Tracing the sources of legitimacy: the impact of deliberation in participatory natural resource management
    Birnbaum, S.; Bodin, Ö.; Sandström, A.
  • Local community, legitimacy and cultural authenticity in post-conflict natural resource management
    Black, R.; Watson, E.
  • Impression management: developing and illustrating a scheme of analysis for narrative disclosures – a methodological note
    Brennan, N.; Guillamon-Saorin, E.; Pierce, A.
  • Narcissism, identity, and legitimacy
    Brown, A.D.
  • Regulation & legitimacy in the mining industry in Africa: where does Canada stand?
    Campbell, B.
  • The nature and potential of corporate governance in developing countries: Zambian perceptions
    Chanda, S.; Burton, B.; Dunne, T.
  • France's new economic regulations: insights from institutional legitimacy theory
    Chelli, M.; Durocher, S.; Richard, J.
  • The role of environmental disclosures as tools of legitimacy: a research note, accounting
    Cho, C.H.; Patten, D.M.
  • Legitimation strategies used in response to environmental disaster: a French case study of total SA's Erika and AZF incidents
    Cho, C.H.
  • Political leadership in Ghana: 1957 to 2010
    Dartey-Baah, K.
  • Do Australian companies report environmental news objectively? An analysis of environmental disclosures by firms prosecuted successfully the Environmental Protection Authority
    Deegan, C.; Rankin, M.
  • The legitimising effect of social and environmental disclosures: a theoretical foundation
    Deegan, C.
  • Legitimacy theory. Despite its enduring popularity and contribution, time is right for a necessary makeover
    Deegan, C.
  • Extractive industries transparency initiative: progress reports, from reports to results
  • Managing organisational legitimacy in the California cattle industry: the construction and effectiveness of verbal accounts
    Elsbach, K.D.
  • Through ‘seas never before sailed’: Portuguese government discursive legitimation strategies in a context of financial crisis
    Fonseca, P.; Ferreira, M.J.
  • Rigged? The scramble for Africa's oil, gas and minerals
  • Governance principles for protected areas in the 21st Century
    Graham, J.; Amos, B.; Plumptre, T.
  • Payments for ecosystem services in an African protected area: exploring issues of legitimacy, fairness, equity and effectiveness
    Gross-Camp, N.D.; Martin, A.; McGuire, S.; Kebede, B.; Munyurakaza, J.
  • Accountability mechanisms in Ghana's proposed oil legislation
    Heller, P.R.; Heuty, A.
  • Can public trust in non-profits and governments be restored?
    Herzlinger, R.
  • Avoiding the resource curse: the case of Norway
    Holden, S.
  • Convergence and divergence in new governance arrangements: evidence from European integrated natural resource strategies
    Howlett, M.; Rayner, J.
  • The crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology: an introduction to phenomenology
    Husserl, E.
  • Media pressures and corporate disclosure of social responsibility performance information: a study of two global clothing and sports retail companies
    Islam, M.A.; Deegan, C.
  • Resource curse or resource disease? Oil in Ghana
    Kopinski, D.; Polus, A.; Tycholiz, W.
  • Will Ghana have a new president after 2020 election?
    Krow, A.
  • Oil wealth, resource curse and development: any lessons for Ghana?
    Kumah-Abiwu, F.; Brenya, E.; Agbodzakey, J.
  • Corporate Social Responsibility and tax aggressiveness: a test of legitimacy theory
    Lanis, R.; Richardson, G.
  • Did Botswana Escape from the Resource Curse?
    Limi, A.
  • Good governance for terrestrial protected areas: a framework, principles and performance outcomes
    Lockwood, M.
  • The Angolan presidency: the epicentre of corruption
    Marques de Morais, R.
  • Promoting transparency in Angola
    McMillan, J.
  • Discretionary disclosure strategies in corporate narratives: incremental information or impression management?
    Merkl-Davies, D.; Brennan, N.
  • Impression management and retrospective sense-making in corporate narratives: a social psychology perspective
    Merkl-Davies, D.; Brennan, N.; McLeay, S.
  • Toward a theory of stakeholder salience: defining the principle of who and what really counts
    Mitchell, R.K.; Agle, B.R.; Wood, D.J.
  • Environmental disclosures in the annual report: extending the applicability and predictive power of legitimacy theory
    O'Donovan, G.
  • TOR, 3 companies sign agreement to increase production capacity
    Ocloo, D.R.
  • Strategic responses to institutional processes
    Oliver, C.
  • The relation between environmental performance and environmental disclosure: a research note
    Patten, D.M.
  • Imag[in]ing annual reports
    Preston, A.M.; Wright, C.; Young, J.J.
  • Democratic decentralisation of natural resources: institutional choice and discretionary power transfers in Sub-Saharan Africa
    Ribot, J.C.
  • There was a problem, and it was solved!: legitimating the expulsion of ‘illegal’ migrants in Spanish parliamentary discourse
    Rojo, L.M.; Van Dijk, T.
  • Escaping the resource curse: the case of Indonesia
    Rosser, A.
  • Natural resources and economic development: the curse of natural resources
    Sachs, J.; Warner, A.
  • On the psychodynamics of organizational disaster: the case of the space shuttle challenger
    Schwartz, H.S.
  • Oil, corruption and the resource curse
    Shaxson, N.
  • Responding to crisis
    Starbuck, W.H.; Greve, A.; Hedberg, B.T.
  • Managing legitimacy: strategic and institutional approaches
    Suchman, M.C.
  • Exporting the ‘Norwegian Model’: the effect of administrative design on oil sector performance
    Thurber, M.; Hults, D.; Heller, P.
  • Survival strategies and citizenship claims: youth and the underground oil economy in post-amnesty Niger Delta
    Ugor, P.
  • Pulp and paper fiction: on the discursive legitimation of global industrial restructuring
    Vaara, E.; Tienari, J.; Laurila, J.
  • Discourse and manipulation
    Van Dijk, T.A.
  • Legitimation in discourse and communication
    Van Leeuwen, T.
  • Does oil corrupt? Evidence from natural experiment in west Africa
    Vicente, P.C.
  • Making democracy matter: responsibility and effective environmental governance in regional Australia
    Wallington, T.J.; Lawrence, G.
  • Frameworks underpinning corporate governance – evidence on Ugandan perceptions
    Wanyama, S.; Helliar, C.V.; Burton, B.M.
  • Stakeholders, accountability and the theory-practice gap in developing nations' corporate governance systems: evidence from Uganda
    Wanyama, S.; Helliar, C.V.; Burton, B.M.