环境成本【外文翻译】
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环境成本管理环境成本管理(Environment Cost Management,ECM)目录[隐藏]1 企业环境成本管理概述2 企业环境成本管理的内容3 企业环境成本管理的意义4 企业环境成本管理的的方法及其发展5 我国企业环境成本管理的问题及建议[1]6 参考文献[编辑]企业环境成本管理概述企业环境成本管理是有组织、有计划地对企业的环境成本进行预测、决策、控制、核算、分析和考核等一系列的科学管理工作,其目标是通过成本管理行为的实施来提高环境效益,实现企业经济效益和环境效益的最佳结合。
狭义的环境成本是指企业内部环境成本,广义的环境成本还包括外部环境成本。
研究环境成本管理问题的目的,是为了建立规范、科学的环境成本核算与控制框架,并将其纳入到企业成本管理系统之中。
环境成本信息的分析和应用是指人们借助企业的环境成本数据,结合企业的环境负荷指标,及早发现企业所存在的环境问题,预测在环保方面进行努力所需付出的代价,为管理层在企业环境保护关键领域的决策提供支持。
如何控制企业环境成本是环境成本管理研究的重要课题。
环境成本控制方法分为事前规划法和事后处理法两种。
目前我国企业普遍采用的事后处理法,已不能适应可持续发展战略的要求。
因此应采用综合考虑整个生产工艺流程,把未来可能发生的环境支出进行分配并进入产品成本预算系统提出各项可行的生产方案的事前规划法。
[编辑]企业环境成本管理的内容环境成本管理是在传统成本管理的基础上,把环境成本纳入企业经营成本的范围,从而对产品生命周期过程中所发生的环境成本有组织、有计划地进行预测、决策、控制、核算、分析和考核等一系列的科学管理工作。
企业环境成本管理从组织管理角度看是一系列的预测、决策、控制、核算和分析的过程,同时从生产、技术、经营的角度看,它又是一种成本形成全过程的管理:1.企业环境成本管理内容。
(1)企业环境成本目标。
企业环境成本管理的总体目标是以最优的环境成本取得最佳的环境效益与经济效益。
环境成本核算:为可持续发展找到平衡引言:环境成本核算的重要性和目的人类的经济发展带来了繁荣和进步,但也对环境造成了巨大的负面影响。
为了确保可持续发展,我们必须认识到环境的真实成本,并将其纳入经济决策的考量中。
环境成本核算正是为了解决这个问题而提出的方法。
本文将探讨环境成本核算的重要性、目的以及实施的挑战。
环境成本核算的定义和背景环境成本核算的定义环境成本核算是一种 quantifying(量化)和 valuing(评估)环境对经济活动的影响和损害的方法。
它将环境的价值(无论是直接的还是间接的)转化为经济术语,并加以纳入经济体系的核算中。
环境成本核算的背景环境成本核算的概念最早可以追溯到1970年代初,当时人们开始意识到环境污染对人类和自然界造成的危害。
由于传统的经济核算方法忽视了环境影响,环境成本核算被提出作为一种对经济活动的“真实成本”的补充。
环境成本核算的重要性真实成本的认识环境成本核算的重要性在于它提醒我们意识到传统经济核算中存在的漏洞。
传统经济核算通常只关注直接造成的成本和收益,忽略了环境对经济的间接影响。
环境成本核算的存在使我们能够更全面地认识到经济活动对环境的影响,并在决策中全面考虑这些因素。
促进可持续发展环境成本核算有助于促进可持续发展的实现。
通过将环境成本纳入经济决策中,我们可以更好地衡量经济活动对环境的影响,并找到平衡点,以实现经济发展与环境保护的双赢局面。
只有在考虑到环境成本的情况下,我们才能够确保未来世代也能够享受到良好的环境。
识别和减少外部成本环境成本核算还有助于识别和减少外部成本。
外部成本是指由经济活动对社会和环境造成的影响,但未在传统经济核算中被计算的成本。
通过环境成本核算,我们可以清楚地了解这些外部成本,并采取相应的措施来减少它们。
这可以有效地促使企业和个人对其行为的环境影响负起责任。
环境成本核算的实施挑战数据的获取和量化环境成本核算的一大挑战是获取和量化准确的数据。
环境成本的不同概念与计量模式环境成本的不同概念与计量模式在当今社会,环境问题已成为人们关注的焦点之一。
随着经济的不断发展和城市化进程的加速,人们对环境成本的关注度也越来越高。
环境成本是指人类活动对自然环境造成的影响所衍生的各种消耗和损失。
在实际应用中,环境成本的概念与计量模式有不同的理解和应用方式,我们需要深入了解这些不同的概念和模式,才能更好地认识和解决环境问题。
一、概念1. 环境成本的传统概念传统意义上,环境成本主要指的是人类生产和消费活动对环境造成的损害所带来的各种成本。
这些成本包括污染治理成本、资源修复成本、健康损害成本等。
传统概念下的环境成本主要是从经济学的角度进行衡量和考量,其重点在于如何通过经济手段来衡量和弥补环境破坏所带来的成本。
2. 环境成本的拓展概念随着环境问题的日益严重,人们逐渐意识到环境成本并不仅限于经济领域,还包括社会和生态领域。
环境成本的拓展概念不仅包括人类活动对环境造成的直接损害所带来的成本,还包括间接损害和不可逆转的损害。
这种拓展概念下的环境成本更注重环境保护和可持续发展的角度,要求在经济增长的同时实现环境质量的提高和生态平衡的保持。
二、计量模式1. 传统计量模式传统上,环境成本的计量主要采用成本法和市场法。
成本法是指通过成本分析和核算来衡量环境成本,主要包括直接成本和间接成本两部分。
直接成本是指由环境破坏所直接导致的损失和消耗,如环境治理成本和资源修复成本;间接成本是指由环境破坏所导致的间接损失,如健康损害成本和生态修复成本。
市场法是指通过市场调节和交易来衡量环境成本,主要包括排放权交易和生态补偿等方式。
2. 新型计量模式随着环境成本理论的不断发展,出现了新型的计量模式,主要包括生态价值评估法和生态足迹分析法。
生态价值评估法是指通过对生态系统提供的各种服务和产品进行评估和衡量,来计算环境成本的一种方法。
生态足迹分析法则是通过衡量人类活动所占用的生态资源和对环境造成的影响来对环境成本进行评估,其核心是衡量人类活动对地球生态系统的压力和耗竭情况。
企业环境成本核算模式的构建(Construction of enterpriseenvironmental cost accounting model )Construction of enterprise environmental cost accounting modelConstruction of enterprise environmental cost accounting model 2009-02-03 21:56:17First, the meaning of environmental costsFor a long time, environmental resources, as a special factor of production, have been excluded from the field of economics, not to mention the cost of investigating environmental factors. The air and water pollutant carrying capacity (Assimilative Capacity), landscape function and other environmental resources, because it has the function of intangibility, possession and use of non exclusive and indirect consumption, are excluded from the range of assets, the cost is not estimated. With the development of economy, the problem of environmental cost accounting has been put on the agenda. But at present the theory about environmental cost connotation, unable to agree on which is right view. From the domestic and international literature, the discussion of environmental cost often has its specific foothold, and it is difficult to give a consistent definition of environmental cost.The United Nations Statistics Office (UNSD) environment cost concept the system of integrated environmental and economic accounting published in 1993 includes two parts: (1) to reduce the number of natural resources consumption and the quality loss caused by the value of natural resources; (2) the actualexpenditure in environmental protection, i.e. all expenses incurred to prevent environmental pollution and restoration of natural resources toimprove the environment, the quantity and quality and the occurrence of various expenses.The environmental services agency believes that environmental costs include: (1) traditional costs such as capital, equipment, materials, labor, materials, facilities, structures, and liquidation values. (2) potentially hidden costs, including the control of environmental costs, such as notification, reporting, monitoring, testing, research, modeling, repair, bookkeeping, planning, training, examination, writing, labels, preparation, protective equipment, medical inspection, insurance, financial security, environmental pollution control, feedback, leakage stormwater management, waste management and tax; the upfront costs, such as compensation, site preparation, site design and development, procurement, construction and installation costs; the cost of late, such as closing severance payments, inventory disposal costs, after the closure of the custody fees, site investigation costs; voluntary environmental costs, such as community relations, poverty relief, monitoring, testing, training, auditing, ensure supplier quality, report (annual environmental report), insurance, planning, feasibility study, repair, recovery and environmental research, R & D, habitat and wetland protection, land planning, and other environmental projects, financial support for environmental organizations or researchers. (3) or cost, including future compliance costs, fines, reactions to future laws, repairs, property damage, personal injury compensation, legal costs, damage to natural resources, and economic losses. (4) the relationship between image and cost,including corporate image, customer relationship, and the relationship with the investors, and the insurance company, and experts and workers, relationship with suppliers, and credit relationship, and community relations, and the relationship between control etc..Economists on the definition of environmental costs generally have the following four types: (1) because of the impact on the environment and society caused by the cost of these costs, the law does not require companies; (2) the enterprise due to the financial burden of environmental regulation; (3) the cost of environmental performance;(4) all costs associated with environmental management.In addition, Miller and Blair divides environmental costs into three categories from the perspective of environmental input output analysis: (1) environmental use costs. That is, the expenses paid by the parties to the economic activities for the normal use of scarce environmental resources. (2) environmental damage cost. The environment cost is ultimately to the normal loss compensation of environmental resources, such as the development of alternative resources, exploration and discovery of new resources, promote the recovery of natural force, so as to ensure the reduction of non environmental capital and environmental sustainability services.Theoretically, as long as the user's cost is determined and levied according to the principle of opportunity cost, artificial environmental damage can be avoided. However, this condition can not be realized in reality. This is because, on the one hand, there is incomplete competition in theenvironment and resources market, and the price of environmental goods can not provide timely and accurate signals to reflect the scarcity of resources, resulting in predatory exploitation of environmental resources. On the other hand, because the government's information is incomplete, the pollution charge standard that deviates from it is (mostly below) the real social cost, which leads to the pollution discharge of the whole society exceeding the accepted pollution capacity. When theenvironmental cost cannot be fully compensated, which is a direct consequence of the quality of the environment was damaged, and the resulting loss includes not only the environmental value loss (the number of environmental resource depletion and degradation), but also to the production activities and humanhealth losses. All of these losses constitute the cost of environmental damage. (3) environmental protection cost. When environmental damage occurs, human beings need extra effort and investment to restore the benign interaction of environment and economy, which leads to the cost of environmental governance. In a "pressure state response" model of human behavior, to prevent and avoid environmental damage afterwards, often in economic activity beginning to take preventive measures, the prevention of the cost and the afterwards control cost together, constitute the environmental protection cost.The United Nations international standards of accounting and reporting of the Intergovernmental Working Group of experts on the fifteenth meeting of document "environmental accounting and financial reporting position announcement" is defined as: "the environmental cost environmental cost is based on the principles of environmentally responsible, for the management of enterprise activities on the environmental impact and be required to take measures and other costs. The cost paid by the enterprise implementation of environmental objectives and requirements".Two, the necessity of the implementation of environmental cost accounting(1) environmental cost accounting is the need to implement the strategy of sustainable development. Sustainable development is the common choice of governments all over the world since 1990s. In China, more than 20 years of reform and opening up, the rapid economic developmentat the sametime, environmental problems have become increasingly prominent, environmental pollution and ecological damage increasingly become the main bottleneck restricting the sustainable development of China's social economy. Therefore, the Chinese government formulated the agenda of twenty-first Century in 1994, which regards sustainable development strategy as the basic strategy of China's social and economic development. The strategy of sustainable development involves many aspects, an important part of the establishment and implementation of environmental accounting is the overall strategy of sustainable development, environmental cost accounting as the core content of accounting environment has become an indispensable part of sustainable development strategy.(two) environmental cost accounting is the need to correctly calculate green GDP. GDP as a comprehensive index to measure a national and regional economic development level and economic benefits, the first is the establishment and development ofnational income statistics and macro economics based on the theory of Keynes, is a single market transaction based input-output accounting, statistical process GDPcalculate the cost of natural resources and will not the enterprise of environmental damageinto account, can not effectively reflect the relationship between economic development and environment and resources, the economic growth indicators can not reflect the level of economic development and economic growth, to a certain extent will increase the national wealth, exaggerated per capita income and economic benefits, to entice people to pursuit of value, competition speed, regardless of resource depletion, degradation and environmental deterioration. In a sense, the national economic accounting system based on the traditional GDPis a "wrong baton"". GDPgrowth, such as misuse of resources, pollution of water bodies, deforestation, erosion of soil andextinct organisms, is clearly irrational and the loss of relevant resources and environment must be deducted from GDP. Under the strategy of sustainable development, it is necessary for the traditional GDPaccounting and national economic accounting system is modified, the calculation and accounting of green GDP, need to micro enterprise environment cost accounting basis.(three) environmental cost accounting is the correct calculation of enterprise cost. The enterprise cost is concerned, the traditional accounting calculation of manufacturing cost, and neglected to the valuation of natural resources, causing enterprises occupied and pollution of natural resources, at the cost of environmental quality for "private interests", inflated its profits. Environmental accounting by cost of natural resources to establishenvironmental cost accounting mode accounting in the enterprises, included in the environmental cost in the production cost, can accurately check the production cost of enterprises, encourage enterprises to tap the internal potential to reduce energy consumption, maintenance of social resources and environment.(four) environmental cost accounting is the need of enterprise development. The relationship between the enterprise and the environment is very close, and a good social environment is the prerequisite and necessary guarantee for the healthy development of the enterprise. The depletion of resources, environmental pollution, climate change, waste disposal, product safety and health will directly affect the production organization and managementof enterprise decision-making, the deterioration of the environment of the whole society will directly affect the development of the enterprise itself. In the long run, only the establishment of enterprise environmental cost accounting model to improve the accounting environmental cost of enterprises, activelycoordinate the relationship between enterprises and environment resources, creating a good environment to survive and develop.(five) environmental cost accounting is the need to optimize the allocation of resources and the harmonious development of society. The scarcity of resources and the limitless nature of humandesires are always the difficult problems in the process of economic development. Nowadays, with the rapid development of modern economy, this problem has become more prominent.Under the premise of limited resources, only the establishment of environmental cost accounting, to provide environmentalprotection, pollution prevention and elimination of environmental cost information, to find the best combination of economic and social and ecological benefits, promoting the optimal allocation of resources and the harmonious development of society,It is possible to realize the sustainable development goal of "meeting the needs of the contemporary people and not affecting the interests of future generations".Three, construct enterprise environmental cost accounting model(1) comparison and analysis of foreign environmental cost accounting models. At present, there are four kinds of international environmental cost accounting models, which are constructed from different tasks.(1) pay more attention to the calculation model of environmental cost. Emphasis on calculating the cost of environmental protection accounting model, separate the cost of environmental protection, the purpose is to better understand and control this part of the cost, for external communication and communication. In November 2001, Germanyintroduced the VDI3800 guidelines, which identified spending on corporate environmental protection measures, and stated that environmental costs would be singled out in cost accounting. ManyGermancompanies calculate these expenditures, mainly to provide information for environmental statistics, in order to disclose statistical information about environmental protection expenditures, and to reveal the efforts ofenterprises to fulfill their environmental responsibilities. Environmental accounting standards in Japan (Japanese Ministry of environment 2000) in environmental cost accounting as the core, construct an environmental accounting system including environmental indicators, and promote the development of Japanese enterprises in the environmental report. The German VDI standards and Japanese environmental accounting standards is to provide information for foreign exchange and communication, and the application in environmental protection measures in the ABC purpose is mainly to reduce the cost of environmental management and environmental protection measures, the United States have done better in this regard, they have suggestions on ABC are more familiar with, and make great efforts the enterprise is the preferred application of Activity-Based Costing in the environmental cost of environmental management and environmental protection.(2) environmental cost accounting model guided by material and energy transfer. To reduce the cost of the potential exists in the material, energy and water consumption reduction, but also related to reducing emissions of "three wastes", in order to discover the cost reduction potential, someof the material and energy circulation oriented accounting method to the development in Germany and the United states. Such as German materials, energy transfer, cost accounting and waste costing, and pure material cost accounting in the United states.There is a certain similarity between material energy transfer, cost accounting and waste costing. The basic idea is to reveal the transparency of the material circulation, and to distribute the environmental costs to these materials. At present, the method of cost accounting for material and energy circulation oriented, the former is mature and with comprehensive methods, applicable to large consumption of different kinds of raw materials and auxiliary materials enterprises; the latter is more suitable for small businesses, because they used to complete the transfer of accounting methods will pay too high a price. Waste cost accounting can be regarded as the initial stage of material energy transfer cost accounting. Materials, energy, circulation, cost accounting include all materials and energy flows, while waste costing only focuses on the cost of the material lost in packaging, discards, and "three wastes".This leads to the waste of cost accounting has some disadvantages: first, the only waste and related circulation, so the consistency and transparency of material and value transfer is limited to a certain extent; secondly, some potential ecological efficiency in the process of product design focus. However ,The precondition of waste costing is relatively small, so it is more easily implemented in enterprises, especially small and medium-sized enterprises.Pure material cost accounting is a method of calculating material loss cost as a traditional cost accounting tool. In view of the fact that it does not include labor costs and management costs in environmental protection activities, the disclosure of information is limited and further improvement is needed.(3) accounting model for investment decision service. This model will costas an important environmental informationenterprise investment decision required for the process of investment in design and project decision-making, according to the environmental cost data were complete investment decision, which is of special significance. Such as the German VDI3800 standards in the C part, in this part, the VDI criterion is widely considered how to invest in environmental protection system in the calculations, lists a series of cost considerations, and provides information on how to calculate the cost.(4) consider the external cost accounting model. As for aspecific enterprise, the environmental cost includes two parts: the external environment cost and the internal environment cost. The external environment cost refers to the compensation expenses caused by the adverse economic consequences caused by the economic activities of the enterprise. The internal environment cost refers to the environmental costs should be borne by the enterprises, including caused by environmental factors, and has definite fees shall be borne and paid by the enterprises, such as sewage charges, compensation fees, environmental management and environmental protection equipment investment. Considering the external cost accounting model, the external cost caused by the enterprise will be introduced into the environment cost calculation system, and the internal environment cost will be reduced to reduce the external environmental cost.To sumup, different patterns of environmental cost accounting reflect differences in different basic ideas, objectives and related methods. As shown in the following table:Classification model of environmental cost accountingTypes, basic ideas, main objectives, related methodsEmphasize on calculation and environmental protectionThe cost accounting model identifies systematically andCalculate the cost of environmental protection. (1) foreign exchange;(2) to ensure the cost efficiency of environmental protection measures; the German VDI3800 standard (VDI2001); Japan Environmental Accounting Standards (Japan, Ministry of environment, 2000)Transfer of materials and energyOriented accounting model (1) finds ecological efficiency potential by modifying material flows;(2) considering environmental cost, material cost and production costImprove ecological efficiency, materials, energy transfer, cost accounting, waste costing, and apply activity-based costing in material and energy accountingInvestment decision serviceBusiness accounting modelIn the investment decision-making testConsider environmental cost factorsImprove investment decisions in product design procedures andenvironmental measures; the German VDI3800 guidelines (investments in pollution prevention) (VDI2001)Consider external costsThe accounting model concerns the neglected communityEnvironmental costs to bearThe external environment cost of strategy protection is internalized, and the internal environment cost is calculated by activity based costing(two) draw lessons from the environment cost accounting experience of Germany, the United States, Japan and other countries, and construct the enterprise environmental cost accounting model suitable for China's national conditions. At present, most enterprises in China are reluctant to take the initiative to calculate environmental costs and disclose corporate environmental information,Just calculate the cost of environmental protection under the pressure of environmental protection. Normally, only to determine the environmental cost and can not meet the demand of mining enterprise cost reduction potential, the cost drivers not to reveal the depth of material cost structure, opaque environmental cost accounting data provided by the unreasonable allocation of indirect cost. At the sametime, the environmental cost calculation has not really considered the information demandof alleviating environmental pressure, and limited the calculation of the waste cost. In this mode, and environment related costs accounted for the proportion of the total cost of the product is relatively low, is not important, the scope also represent only a small part of the business environment and a large number of measures to integrate cost, material related costs are not involved, it can not provide enough information forthe enterprise environment management decision. Therefore, from the ecological perspective, emphasis on the calculation of environmental cost accounting model is difficult to provide the relevant environmental damage, environmental restoration, the potential loss of useful information cost, ecological orientation did not reflect the environmental cost accounting, ignoring the impact of ecological efficiency of environment cost.The ultimate goal of environmental cost accounting is to promote enterprises to control costs, reduce energy consumption, improve ecological efficiency and maintain sustainable economic development. Analysis of material and energy circulation, according to the enterprise economic goals, environmental objectives and the requirements of coordination, various factors quantitative material flow system, find the waste into resources and material improvement links, optimization of environmental protection technology integration of enterprises, in order to improve the material utilization efficiency and reduce the environmental load of the enterprise purpose. At the same time, the use of the material flow cost accounting of this tool can also flow of information within the companyto enhance the transparency of the material circulation, deepen the complex relationship between the operation system understanding of materials, construction can be found that the comprehensive database cost reduction potential and the correct evaluation of the improvement measures. The essential characteristics of the material flow cost accounting is the waste value of traditional cost calculation is difficult to clearly reflect as a "negative products" in the process of manufacturing enterprises to reflect, it breaks through the traditional product cost calculation ignores waste cost limitations, which can reflect the dynamic consumption of the value of natural resources waste, and guide enterprises to improve resource the utilization ratio of height to fully understand the waste reduction double effects to improve enterpriseefficiency, reduce environmental load, achieve the goal of sustainable development. Therefore, from the point of view of controlling costs and finding the potential of ecological efficiency, the material and energy transfer oriented accounting model is suitable for China's national conditions.Paying attention to the environmental costs that should be neglected by society, and internalizing the cost of external environment is the key to correctly calculate the cost of an enterprise. The external environment and internal environment cost costs are caused by economic activities of the enterprise, in accordance with the "who benefits, whopays" principle, this part of the expenses shall be borne by the enterprise burden, but usually, for various reasons, such spending still can notaccurately reflect the burden of enterprise. Consider the external cost accounting model will cost internalization of the external environment, the use of certain methods of accounting recognition and measurement of corporations' impact on the external environment in the process of production and operation, and as part of the cost of enterprise, the original mainly by government contractors bear the environmental cost gradually change mainly by the enterprise to bear.In practice can be used in the physical unit and the monetary unit dual recognition and measurement of external environmental costs, and to find a reasonable method, the external environmental costs between different enterprises, units and departments to use the sameresources to be allocated, effects of toxic and harmful substances not only to the confirmation and measurement of enterprise emissions in production and operation the impact caused to the environment, and measuring products after the sale in the use process may cause environment but also confirmed that the environmental impact caused by products and eventually scrapped when. Therefore, from the point of view ofcalculating enterprise cost correctly, it is more suitable to consider the external cost accounting model.。
毕业设计附件外文文献翻译:原文+译文文献出处: Markus G. The research of environment cost control in manufacturing enterprise [J]. International Journal of Production Economics, 2016, 2(3): 16-28.原文The research of environment cost control in manufacturing enterpriseMarkus GAbstractAlthough the development of manufacturing industry has brought the economic high growth, but at the same time we must see to the resources and the environment has brought great pressure, will restrict the sustainable development of manufacturing industry. From microscopic view, under the condition of the fierce market competition, manufacturing companies often from their own interests, environmental protection is generally only meet the minimum standards set by the government policy, resulting in a large number of environmental pollution by the society "to pay". However, as the environment problem increasingly prominent, and the increase of environmental protection demands, that the environmental responsibility on to their social situation will not exist. So the cost of manufacturing firms are active in environmental control will become particularly important, enterprise more environmental cost control as soon as possible, the more can meet the requirements of all aspects, to avoid the increasing environmental costs, to obtain competitive advantage, improve the economic benefit.Keywords: Manufacturing enterprise; Environmental cost; Value chain1 Research statusBemons (1971) and Malin (1973) the innovative put forward the concept of pollution of the environment accounting, they think the enterprise caused by the external environmental costs should be internalized. Park and Lee (2003) of environmental cost budget estimation methods are discussed in this paper. Robert and Frank (2005) studied to deal with the economic interests of the environment cost and time and space redistribution system method. Thomas, Robert and Daniel (2007) in financial analysis considering the external environmental costs and economic value added. Barnum (2009) on the basis of DEA analysis method, using the principle of materialbalance estimate input cost of coal, oil, natural gas and carbon dioxide output cost. Adam (2009) thinks the polluter pays principle (PPP) is still dominant in the cost allocation, and waste water treatments by purchasing power parity (PPP) explore the cross-border issues. Tran (2009) use economic model to study the shrimp and the relationship between the environmental costs of production.Yet Jeffrey a. (1994) argues that free trade will have far-reaching effect to the enterprise environment cost control. Julie a. Hewitt and Daniel k. Brown (2000), the study found that the environmental group manager for cost purposes rather than providing services received are marginal effect. Alan e. Rime r, PE, Dee, Black (2000) study found that organization and working process of the key factors is the company's environmental cost driver. John (2004) argues that environmental cost management consulting (ECMC) can help enterprises to evaluate its production cycle, reduce the enterprise environment cost. Hansen and Quintana (2007) discuss how to identify, track and monitor the environmental costs in order to improve enterprise's environmental performance. Robert (2008) design a comprehensive environmental quality management total cost assessment (TQEM - TCA) framework, to evaluate and control the environmental costs of some of the biggest companies in the United States. Gordon (2008) study shows that using the total cost management framework (TCM) can enhance the consistency and comparability of different kinds of environment cost estimation.Michael Porter for the first time put forward the concept of value chain, is to analyze the important tool of enterprise competitive advantage. Shank and Vijay expanded the potter the meaning of value chain; the enterprise's value chain should start the whole process of supplier to the user. Norman R and Ramirez R (1993) proposed the concept of value constellation, enterprises should pay attention to more capable to create value, and not stay to add value. Jeffrey and John (1995) put forward the concept of virtual value chain, the enterprise is present in the material and the virtual world, shall obtain the competitive advantages of the two world., (1996) argue that customer value chain is a unique competitive advantage, enterprises can not only strengthen the company management system, the characteristics of but also can improve the competitive advantage of enterprises. Alexandra j. Campbell (1998) studied the international cooperation's main trading partner on the value chain of influencing factors. Tom and Nick (1999) think that the method of value chain should include material distribution requirements planning, continuousreplenishment program, jointly managed inventory, etc. Stuart (2001) put forward the enterprise is not enough to have the ability to create value, the key is to be able to get what you create value. Merlin and Kevin (2002) in the value chain partners to share customer data is very important, and to explore different methods for sharing data and in commercial applications. Adam (2007) built a biform two-phase game model, the use of the model to quantitative analysis of the value chain of the relationship of value.2 Related theories2.1 Environment cost theory2.1.1 Concepts and characteristicsConsensus has not been formed the current definition of environmental costs, in this paper, with reference to the United Nations international accounting and reporting standards intergovernmental expert working group (ISAR) definition of environmental cost, environmental cost is to show the enterprise in line with those responsible for the environment for the principle, the initiative for environmental pollution control or the cost of what happens to be enforced, and enterprise in the activities of other costs. Environmental cost is an important part of enterprise cost, it has some characteristics different from other enterprise cost, main show is sudden, concealment, and increasing.2.1.2 The content of the environmental cost and classificationPredecessors have made more research on environment cost classification field, think of the content of environmental costs include not only the current after induction enterprise already bear the costs of environmental liability shall also include the enterprise had not, but the future is likely to be borne by the enterprises of the cost. Environmental costs include not only measurable environmental spending, should also include cannot clear measurement of environmental impact. Not only tangible environmental spending, including enterprise environment cost shall also include losing its environmental image of the invisible. From the point of the whole management process, according to enterprise's effects on the environment and environmental cost expenditure, in this paper, the environmental cost is divided into the following four categories:(1)Natural resource depletion costEnterprise will use in the production of economic activity, the consumption of natural resources, which reduce the number of resources value, is the cost of depletion of naturalresources. According to the renewable resources whether, natural resource depletion cost but also the specific classification of non-renewable resource depletion cost and cost of renewable resource depletion.(2) The cost of environmental degradationEnterprise production and operation of emissions than the quantity of the natural environment can carry,, in turn, led to the decrease of the quality of the environment, including the loss of value is the cost of environmental degradation, such as enterprise result in pollution of air, water, etc. Due to accurate verification of actual damage, caused the enterprise did not completely corresponding environmental responsibility.(3) The environment and resources protection costEnterprises in the process of its production and business operation will inevitably impact on environment and resources, in order to protect the environment and resources, to maintain their sustainable development and utilization of enterprises take measures of environmental resource protection, namely, cost. For example: in order to prevent and reduce pollution accidents, enterprise purchase the corresponding facilities extra spending, in order to improve employee knowledge of environmental protection of the training expenses, etc.(4) The environment and resources cost recovery and regenerationWhat we mean by environmental resources mainly include common human breathing air, minerals needed for the industrial production, most of the world's oceans, farming land, human creation of civilization heritage. Environmental resources recovery and regeneration cost is refers to the enterprise has caused damage to the environment resources, in order to restore what had happened to the cost. Such as the cost of industrial sewage purification, repeat use of the costs of waste, etc2.2 Environmental cost control theoryEnvironmental cost control is the enterprise to take corresponding measures will be formed to control the environmental cost of each items, trying to push the environmental cost control in reasonable level, in order to achieve environmental protection while promoting economic efficiency of enterprises. Environmental cost control is not a simple compression on environment cost, through the system control can improve the management level of enterprise environment cost. Enterprise environment cost control should have the following features:(1) ComprehensiveDue to the enterprise of adverse effects on the environment may was not reflected in the current, the internalization of environmental costs, including the enterprise has the burden of costs, shall also include the enterprise is likely to be borne by the enterprises environmental costs in the future. Therefore, the enterprise of the internalization of environment cost control should not only for cost control, for potential, externalized, considering the environmental cost shall remain at the same time, enterprises should also starting from the complete life cycle of a product or service, fully consider the cost of environment, and to control its each link.(2) The sustainabilityEnterprises to actively control the environmental cost will lead to spending, and in the short term, the enterprise environment cost control increased the burden of the enterprise, but in the long run, the enterprise to get higher utilization rate of raw materials, better product quality, lower environmental risks and benefits such as the cost of financing, which will increase the competitiveness of the enterprises, and is helpful to realize the sustainable development of enterprises.2.3 The value chain theoryThe McKinsey, a consultancy, opened up the value chain thought, followed by Michael Porter, Michael e. Porter) in his book the competitive advantage of the system elaborated the concept of value chain, with the continuous development of these years, the value chain is endowed with new meaning, the following lists the representative value chain thought, the traditional value chain refers to the value chain theory proposed by Michael Porter, the enterprise production and management mainly includes the research design, production, sales and support activities, all these activities can be expressed as the value chain. Enterprise value activities can be divided into basic activities and auxiliary activities further these two categories, basic activities can create value for enterprise directly; auxiliary activities just help create value for the basic activity, will not be able to create value directly. Peter, Peter Haynes (Hines) think enterprise value chain should be integrated material transit, the value of its different from the potter profit as the ultimate goal of enterprise value chain theory, thought he is only a by-product of meet customer demand for products. In addition, he wills also raw materials and customers of the two factors into their value system. Jeffrey and virtual value chain, d the carat puts forward the concept of virtual value chain.They think, under the background of information age, the value added in the enterprise value chain activities can be divided into based on some of the material resources and in the market place in the market based on the part of the information resources in the space. Which is based on material resources value-added activities constitute the traditional value chain, and based on the information resource is a virtual value chain, virtual value chain theory is that information is the important source of value?3 Environmental cost control model in real timeReal-time control is the enterprise in the information environment of product environmental cost information, this paper compares and analyzes the information in order to realize the real-time monitoring of environmental cost control. But considering the factors such as information transmission time, any real time delayed, and the real-time control mode is relative.3.1 Environmental cost control based on ERPUsing ERP system to control environmental cost is to use its plan, analysis, and other functions, each activity of the enterprise environment cost accounting. In the ERP environment, the enterprise will be in the business environment each link (inventory materials, production processes, production workshop, suppliers, customers, distributors and other business resources) combining, accurately and in a timely manner to all these aspects of dynamic monitor environmental cost information, so as to realize the effective control of the enterprise environment cost.3.2 Environmental cost control based on ABCEnvironmental cost control based on homework cost method is the homework cost method is used to achieve the goal of environmental cost control, the homework cost method of accounting object is each job, rather than directly to a product, embodied in: first, to confirm the enterprise use resources of all assignments, next to the cost of the consumption of resources allocated to the relevant work, finally put all the homework cost allocation to the product. For enterprise environmental cost occur through homework assigned to products, can reasonable distribution of environmental costs, eventually to achieve the environment of the enterprise cost control.译文制造型企业环境成本控制研究Markus G摘要虽然制造业的发展带来了经济的高增长,但同时我们必须看到给资源与环境带来了巨大的压力,将制约制造业的可持续发展;从微观来看,在激烈的市场竞争条件下,制造型企业通常从自身利益出发,环境保护普遍仅仅满足政府政策的最低要求,导致大量环境污染由社会“买单”。
企业环境成本核算模式的构建(Construction of enterprise environmental cost accounting model)Construction of enterprise environmental cost accounting modelConstruction of enterprise environmental cost accounting model 2009-02-03 21:56:17First, the meaning of environmental costsFor a long time, environmental resources, as a special factor of production, have been excluded from the field of economics, not to mention the cost of investigating environmental factors. The air and water pollutant carrying capacity (Assimilative Capacity), landscape function and other environmental resources, because it has the function of intangibility, possession and use of non exclusive and indirect consumption, are excluded from the range of assets, the cost is not estimated. With the development of economy, the problem of environmental cost accounting has been put on the agenda. But at present the theory about environmental cost connotation, unable to agree on which is right view. From the domestic and international literature, the discussion of environmental cost often has its specific foothold, and it is difficult to give a consistent definition of environmental cost.The United Nations Statistics Office (UNSD) environment cost concept the system of integrated environmental and economic accounting published in 1993 includes two parts: (1) to reduce the number of natural resources consumption and the quality loss caused by the value of natural resources; (2) the actualexpenditure in environmental protection, i.e. all expenses incurred to prevent environmental pollution and restoration of natural resources to improve the environment, the quantity and quality and the occurrence of various expenses.The environmental services agency believes that environmental costs include: (1) traditional costs such as capital, equipment, materials, labor, materials, facilities, structures, and liquidation values. (2) potentially hidden costs, including the control of environmental costs, such as notification, reporting, monitoring, testing, research, modeling, repair, bookkeeping, planning, training, examination, writing, labels, preparation, protective equipment, medical inspection, insurance, financial security, environmental pollution control, feedback, leakage stormwater management, waste management and tax; the upfront costs, such as compensation, site preparation, site design and development, procurement, construction and installation costs; the cost of late, such as closing severance payments, inventory disposal costs, after the closure of the custody fees, site investigation costs; voluntary environmental costs, such as community relations, poverty relief, monitoring, testing, training, auditing, ensure supplier quality, report (annual environmental report), insurance, planning, feasibility study, repair, recovery and environmental research, R & D, habitat and wetland protection, land planning, and other environmental projects, financial support for environmental organizations or researchers. (3) or cost, including future compliance costs, fines, reactions to future laws, repairs, property damage, personal injury compensation, legal costs, damage to natural resources, and economic losses. (4) the relationship between image and cost,including corporate image, customer relationship, and the relationship with the investors, and the insurance company, and experts and workers, relationship with suppliers, and credit relationship, and community relations, and the relationship between control etc..Economists on the definition of environmental costs generally have the following four types: (1) because of the impact on the environment and society caused by the cost of these costs, the law does not require companies; (2) the enterprise due to the financial burden of environmental regulation; (3) the cost of environmental performance;(4) all costs associated with environmental management.In addition, Miller and Blair divides environmental costs into three categories from the perspective of environmental input output analysis: (1) environmental use costs. That is, the expenses paid by the parties to the economic activities for the normal use of scarce environmental resources. (2) environmental damage cost. The environment cost is ultimately to the normal loss compensation of environmental resources, such as the development of alternative resources, exploration and discovery of new resources, promote the recovery of natural force, so as to ensure the reduction of non environmental capital and environmental sustainability services. Theoretically, as long as the user's cost is determined and levied according to the principle of opportunity cost, artificial environmental damage can be avoided. However, this condition can not be realized in reality. This is because, on the one hand, there is incomplete competition in theenvironment and resources market, and the price of environmental goods can not provide timely and accurate signals to reflect the scarcity of resources, resulting in predatory exploitation of environmental resources. On the other hand, because the government's information is incomplete, the pollution charge standard that deviates from it is (mostly below) the real social cost, which leads to the pollution discharge of the whole society exceeding the accepted pollution capacity. When the environmental cost cannot be fully compensated, which is a direct consequence of the quality of the environment was damaged, and the resulting loss includes not only the environmental value loss (the number of environmental resource depletion and degradation), but also to the production activities and human health losses. All of these losses constitute the cost of environmental damage. (3) environmental protection cost. When environmental damage occurs, human beings need extra effort and investment to restore the benign interaction of environment and economy, which leads to the cost of environmental governance. In a "pressure state response" model of human behavior, to prevent and avoid environmental damage afterwards, often in economic activity beginning to take preventive measures, the prevention of the cost and the afterwards control cost together, constitute the environmental protection cost.The United Nations international standards of accounting and reporting of the Intergovernmental Working Group of experts on the fifteenth meeting of document "environmental accounting and financial reporting position announcement" is defined as: "the environmental cost environmental cost is based on the principles of environmentally responsible, for the managementof enterprise activities on the environmental impact and be required to take measures and other costs. The cost paid by the enterprise implementation of environmental objectives and requirements".Two, the necessity of the implementation of environmental cost accounting(1) environmental cost accounting is the need to implement the strategy of sustainable development. Sustainable development is the common choice of governments all over the world since 1990s. In China, more than 20 years of reform and opening up, the rapid economic development at the same time, environmental problems have become increasingly prominent, environmental pollution and ecological damage increasingly become the main bottleneck restricting the sustainable development of China's social economy. Therefore, the Chinese government formulated the agenda of twenty-first Century in 1994, which regards sustainable development strategy as the basic strategy of China's social and economic development. The strategy of sustainable development involves many aspects, an important part of the establishment and implementation of environmental accounting is the overall strategy of sustainable development, environmental cost accounting as the core content of accounting environment has become an indispensable part of sustainable development strategy.(two) environmental cost accounting is the need to correctly calculate green GDP. GDP as a comprehensive index to measure a national and regional economic development level and economic benefits, the first is the establishment and development ofnational income statistics and macro economics based on the theory of Keynes, is a single market transaction basedinput-output accounting, statistical process GDP calculate the cost of natural resources and will not the enterprise of environmental damage into account, can not effectively reflect the relationship between economic development and environment and resources, the economic growth indicators can not reflect the level of economic development and economic growth, to a certain extent will increase the national wealth, exaggerated per capita income and economic benefits, to entice people to pursuit of value, competition speed, regardless of resource depletion, degradation and environmental deterioration. In a sense, the national economic accounting system based on the traditional GDP is a "wrong baton"". GDP growth, such as misuse of resources, pollution of water bodies, deforestation, erosion of soil and extinct organisms, is clearly irrational and the loss of relevant resources and environment must be deducted from GDP. Under the strategy of sustainable development, it is necessary for the traditional GDP accounting and national economic accounting system is modified, the calculation and accounting of green GDP, need to micro enterprise environment cost accounting basis.(three) environmental cost accounting is the correct calculation of enterprise cost. The enterprise cost is concerned, the traditional accounting calculation of manufacturing cost, and neglected to the valuation of natural resources, causing enterprises occupied and pollution of natural resources, at the cost of environmental quality for "private interests", inflated its profits. Environmental accounting by cost of natural resources to establishenvironmental cost accounting mode accounting in the enterprises, included in the environmental cost in the production cost, can accurately check the production cost of enterprises, encourage enterprises to tap the internal potential to reduce energy consumption, maintenance of social resources and environment.(four) environmental cost accounting is the need of enterprise development. The relationship between the enterprise and the environment is very close, and a good social environment is the prerequisite and necessary guarantee for the healthy development of the enterprise. The depletion of resources, environmental pollution, climate change, waste disposal, product safety and health will directly affect the production organization and management of enterprise decision-making, the deterioration of the environment of the whole society will directly affect the development of the enterprise itself. In the long run, only the establishment of enterprise environmental cost accounting model to improve the accounting environmental cost of enterprises, actively coordinate the relationship between enterprises and environment resources, creating a good environment to survive and develop.(five) environmental cost accounting is the need to optimize the allocation of resources and the harmonious development of society. The scarcity of resources and the limitless nature of human desires are always the difficult problems in the process of economic development. Nowadays, with the rapid development of modern economy, this problem has become more prominent. Under the premise of limited resources, only the establishment of environmental cost accounting, to provide environmentalprotection, pollution prevention and elimination of environmental cost information, to find the best combination of economic and social and ecological benefits, promoting the optimal allocation of resources and the harmonious development of society,It is possible to realize the sustainable development goal of "meeting the needs of the contemporary people and not affecting the interests of future generations".Three, construct enterprise environmental cost accounting model(1) comparison and analysis of foreign environmental cost accounting models. At present, there are four kinds of international environmental cost accounting models, which are constructed from different tasks.(1) pay more attention to the calculation model of environmental cost. Emphasis on calculating the cost of environmental protection accounting model, separate the cost of environmental protection, the purpose is to better understand and control this part of the cost, for external communication and communication. In November 2001, Germany introduced the VDI3800 guidelines, which identified spending on corporate environmental protection measures, and stated that environmental costs would be singled out in cost accounting. Many German companies calculate these expenditures, mainly to provide information for environmental statistics, in order to disclose statistical information about environmental protection expenditures, and to reveal the efforts ofenterprises to fulfill their environmental responsibilities. Environmental accounting standards in Japan (Japanese Ministry of environment 2000) in environmental cost accounting as the core, construct an environmental accounting system including environmental indicators, and promote the development of Japanese enterprises in the environmental report. The German VDI standards and Japanese environmental accounting standards is to provide information for foreign exchange and communication, and the application in environmental protection measures in the ABC purpose is mainly to reduce the cost of environmental management and environmental protection measures, the United States have done better in this regard, they have suggestions on ABC are more familiar with, and make great efforts the enterprise is the preferred application of Activity-Based Costing in the environmental cost of environmental management and environmental protection.(2) environmental cost accounting model guided by material and energy transfer. To reduce the cost of the potential exists in the material, energy and water consumption reduction, but also related to reducing emissions of "three wastes", in order to discover the cost reduction potential, some of the material and energy circulation oriented accounting method to the development in Germany and the United states. Such as German materials, energy transfer, cost accounting and waste costing, and pure material cost accounting in the United states.There is a certain similarity between material energy transfer, cost accounting and waste costing. The basic idea is to reveal the transparency of the material circulation, and to distribute the environmental costs to these materials. At present, themethod of cost accounting for material and energy circulation oriented, the former is mature and with comprehensive methods, applicable to large consumption of different kinds of raw materials and auxiliary materials enterprises; the latter is more suitable for small businesses, because they used to complete the transfer of accounting methods will pay too high a price. Waste cost accounting can be regarded as the initial stage of material energy transfer cost accounting. Materials, energy, circulation, cost accounting include all materials and energy flows, while waste costing only focuses on the cost of the material lost in packaging, discards, and "three wastes". This leads to the waste of cost accounting has some disadvantages: first, the only waste and related circulation, so the consistency and transparency of material and value transfer is limited to a certain extent; secondly, some potential ecological efficiency in the process of product design focus. However,The precondition of waste costing is relatively small, so it is more easily implemented in enterprises, especially small and medium-sized enterprises.Pure material cost accounting is a method of calculating material loss cost as a traditional cost accounting tool. In view of the fact that it does not include labor costs and management costs in environmental protection activities, the disclosure of information is limited and further improvement is needed.(3) accounting model for investment decision service. This model will cost as an important environmental informationenterprise investment decision required for the process of investment in design and project decision-making, according to the environmental cost data were complete investment decision, which is of special significance. Such as the German VDI3800 standards in the C part, in this part, the VDI criterion is widely considered how to invest in environmental protection system in the calculations, lists a series of cost considerations, and provides information on how to calculate the cost.(4) consider the external cost accounting model. As for a specific enterprise, the environmental cost includes two parts: the external environment cost and the internal environment cost. The external environment cost refers to the compensation expenses caused by the adverse economic consequences caused by the economic activities of the enterprise. The internal environment cost refers to the environmental costs should be borne by the enterprises, including caused by environmental factors, and has definite fees shall be borne and paid by the enterprises, such as sewage charges, compensation fees, environmental management and environmental protection equipment investment. Considering the external cost accounting model, the external cost caused by the enterprise will be introduced into the environment cost calculation system, and the internal environment cost will be reduced to reduce the external environmental cost.To sum up, different patterns of environmental cost accounting reflect differences in different basic ideas, objectives and related methods. As shown in the following table:Classification model of environmental cost accountingTypes, basic ideas, main objectives, related methods Emphasize on calculation and environmental protectionThe cost accounting model identifies systematically andCalculate the cost of environmental protection. (1) foreign exchange;(2) to ensure the cost efficiency of environmental protection measures; the German VDI3800 standard (VDI2001); Japan Environmental Accounting Standards (Japan, Ministry of environment, 2000)Transfer of materials and energyOriented accounting model (1) finds ecological efficiency potential by modifying material flows;(2) considering environmental cost, material cost and production costImprove ecological efficiency, materials, energy transfer, cost accounting, waste costing, and apply activity-based costing in material and energy accountingInvestment decision serviceBusiness accounting modelIn the investment decision-making testConsider environmental cost factorsImprove investment decisions in product design procedures and environmental measures; the German VDI3800 guidelines (investments in pollution prevention) (VDI2001)Consider external costsThe accounting model concerns the neglected communityEnvironmental costs to bearThe external environment cost of strategy protection is internalized, and the internal environment cost is calculated by activity based costing(two) draw lessons from the environment cost accounting experience of Germany, the United States, Japan and other countries, and construct the enterprise environmental cost accounting model suitable for China's national conditions. At present, most enterprises in China are reluctant to take the initiative to calculate environmental costs and disclose corporate environmental information,Just calculate the cost of environmental protection under the pressure of environmental protection. Normally, only to determine the environmental cost and can not meet the demand of mining enterprise cost reduction potential, the cost driversnot to reveal the depth of material cost structure, opaque environmental cost accounting data provided by the unreasonable allocation of indirect cost. At the same time, the environmental cost calculation has not really considered the information demand of alleviating environmental pressure, and limited the calculation of the waste cost. In this mode, and environment related costs accounted for the proportion of the total cost of the product is relatively low, is not important, the scope also represent only a small part of the business environment and a large number of measures to integrate cost, material related costs are not involved, it can not provide enough information for the enterprise environment management decision. Therefore, from the ecological perspective, emphasis on the calculation of environmental cost accounting model is difficult to provide the relevant environmental damage, environmental restoration, the potential loss of useful information cost, ecological orientation did not reflect the environmental cost accounting, ignoring the impact of ecological efficiency of environment cost.The ultimate goal of environmental cost accounting is to promote enterprises to control costs, reduce energy consumption, improve ecological efficiency and maintain sustainable economic development. Analysis of material and energy circulation, according to the enterprise economic goals, environmental objectives and the requirements of coordination, various factors quantitative material flow system, find the waste into resources and material improvement links, optimization of environmental protection technology integration of enterprises, in order to improve the material utilization efficiency and reduce the environmental load of theenterprise purpose. At the same time, the use of the material flow cost accounting of this tool can also flow of information within the company to enhance the transparency of the material circulation, deepen the complex relationship between the operation system understanding of materials, construction can be found that the comprehensive database cost reduction potential and the correct evaluation of the improvement measures. The essential characteristics of the material flow cost accounting is the waste value of traditional cost calculation is difficult to clearly reflect as a "negative products" in the process of manufacturing enterprises to reflect, it breaks through the traditional product cost calculation ignores waste cost limitations, which can reflect the dynamic consumption of the value of natural resources waste, and guide enterprises to improve resource the utilization ratio of height to fully understand the waste reduction double effects to improve enterprise efficiency, reduce environmental load, achieve the goal of sustainable development. Therefore, from the point of view of controlling costs and finding the potential of ecological efficiency, the material and energy transfer oriented accounting model is suitable for China's national conditions.Paying attention to the environmental costs that should be neglected by society, and internalizing the cost of external environment is the key to correctly calculate the cost of an enterprise. The external environment and internal environment cost costs are caused by economic activities of the enterprise, in accordance with the "who benefits, who pays" principle, this part of the expenses shall be borne by the enterprise burden, but usually, for various reasons, such spending still can notaccurately reflect the burden of enterprise. Consider the external cost accounting model will cost internalization of the external environment, the use of certain methods of accounting recognition and measurement of corporations' impact on the external environment in the process of production and operation, and as part of the cost of enterprise, the original mainly by government contractors bear the environmental cost gradually change mainly by the enterprise to bear.In practice can be used in the physical unit and the monetary unit dual recognition and measurement of external environmental costs, and to find a reasonable method, the external environmental costs between different enterprises, units and departments to use the same resources to be allocated, effects of toxic and harmful substances not only to the confirmation and measurement of enterprise emissions in production and operation the impact caused to the environment, and measuring products after the sale in the use process may cause environment but also confirmed that the environmental impact caused by products and eventually scrapped when. Therefore, from the point of view of calculating enterprise cost correctly, it is more suitable to consider the external cost accounting model.。
成本会计外文翻译外文文献英文文献中小企业环境成本会计的实施IMPLEMENTING ENVIRONMENTAL COSTACCOUNTING IN SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZEDCOMPANIES1(ENVIRONMENTAL COST ACCOUNTING IN SMESSince its inception some 30 years ago, Environmental Cost Accounting (ECA) has reached a stage of development where individual ECA systemsare separated from the core accounting system based an assessment of environmental costs with (see Fichter et al., 1997, Letmathe and Wagner , 2002).As environmental costs are commonly assessed as overhead costs, neither the older concepts of full costs accounting nor the relatively recent one of direct costing appear to represent an appropriate basisfor the implementation of ECA. Similar to developments in conventional accounting, the theoretical and conceptual sphere of ECA has focused on process-based accounting since the 1990s (see Hallay and Pfriem, 1992, Fischer and Blasius, 1995, BMU/UBA, 1996, Heller et al., 1995, Letmathe, 1998, Spengler and H.hre, 1998).Taking available concepts of ECA into consideration, process-based concepts seem the best option regarding the establishment of ECA (see Heupel and Wendisch , 2002). These concepts, however, have to becontinuously revised to ensure that they work well when applied in small and medium-sized companies.Based on the framework for Environmental Management Accounting presented in Burritt et al. (2002), our concept of ECA focuses on two main groups of environmentally related impacts. These areenvironmentally induced financial effects and company-related effects on environmental systems (see Burritt and Schaltegger, 2000, p.58). Each of these impacts relate to specific categories of financial and environmental information. The environmentally induced financial effects are represented by monetary environmental information and the effects on environmental systems are represented by physical environmental information. Conventional accounting deals with both – monetary as well as physical units – but does notfocus on environmental impact as such. To arrive at a practical solution to the implementation of ECA in a company’s existingaccounting system, and to comply with the problem ofdistinguishing between monetary and physical aspects, an integrated concept is required. As physical information is often the basis for the monetary information (e.g. kilograms of a raw material are the basis for the monetary valuation of raw material consumption), the integration1of this information into the accounting system database is essential. From there, the generation of physical environmental and monetary (environmental) information would in many cases be feasible. For manycompanies, the priority would be monetary (environmental) informationfor use in for instance decisions regarding resource consumptions and investments. The use of ECA in small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) is still relatively rare, so practical examples available in the literature are few and far between. One problem is that the definitions of SMEs vary between countries (see Kosmider, 1993 and Reinemann, 1999). In our work the criteria shown in Table 1 are used to describe small and medium-sized enterprises.Table 1. Criteria of small and medium-sized enterprisesNumber of employees TurnoverUp to 500 employees Turnover up to EUR 50mManagement Organization- Owner-cum-entrepreneur -Divisional organization is rare- Varies from a patriarchal management -Short flow of information stylein traditional companies and teamwork -Strong personal commitment in start-up companies -Instruction and controlling with- Top-down planning in old companies direct personal contact- Delegation is rare- Low level of formality- High flexibilityFinance Personnel- family company -easy to survey number of employees- limited possibilities of financing -wide expertise-high satisfaction of employeesSupply chain Innovation-closely involved in local -high potential of innovationeconomic cycles in special fields- intense relationship with customersand suppliers2Keeping these characteristics in mind, the chosen ECA approachshould be easy to apply, should facilitate the handling of complex structures and at the same time be suited to the special needs of SMEs.Despite their size SMEs are increasingly implementing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems like SAP R/3, Oracle and Peoplesoft. ERP systems support business processes across organizational, temporal and geographical boundaries using one integrated database. The primary use of ERP systems is for planning and controlling production and administration processes of an enterprise. In SMEs however, they are often individually designed and thus not standardized making the integration of for instance software that supports ECA implementation problematic. Examples could be tools like the “eco-ef ficiency” approach ofIMU (2003) or Umberto (2003) because these solutions work with the database of more comprehensive software solutions like SAP, Oracle, Navision or others. Umberto software for example (see Umberto, 2003)would require large investments and great background knowledge of ECA –which is not available in most SMEs.The ECA approach suggested in this chapter is based on anintegrative solution –meaning that an individually developed database is used, and the ECA solution adopted draws on the existing cost accounting procedures in the company. In contrast to other ECA approaches, the aim was to create an accounting system that enables the companies to individually obtain the relevant cost information. The aim of the research was thus to find out what cost information is relevant for the company’s decision on environmental issues andhow to obtain it.2(METHOD FOR IMPLEMENTING ECASetting up an ECA system requires a systematic procedure. Theproject thus developed a method for implementing ECA in the companiesthat participated in the project; this is shown in Figure 1. During the implementation of the project it proved convenient to form a core team assigned with corresponding tasks drawing on employees in various departments. Such a team should consist of one or two persons from the production department as well as two from accounting and corporate environmental issues, if available. Depending on the stage of theproject and kind of inquiry being considered, additional corporate members may be added to the project team to respond to issues such as IT, logistics, warehousing etc.Phase 1: Production Process Visualization3At the beginning, the project team must be briefed thoroughly on the current corporate situation and on the accounting situation. To this end, the existing corporate accounting structure and the related corporate information transfer should be analyzed thoroughly. Following theconcept of an input/output analysis, how materials find their ways into and out of the company is assessed. The next step is to present the flow of material and goods discovered and assessed in a flow model. To ensure the completeness and integrity of such a systematic analysis, any input and output is to be taken into consideration. Only a detailed analysisof material and energy flows from the point they enter the company until they leave it as products, waste, waste water or emissions enables the company to detect cost-saving potentials that at later stages of the project may involve more efficient material use, advanced process reliability and overview, improved capacity loads, reduced wastedisposal costs, better transparency of costs and more reliable assessment of legal issues. As a first approach, simplified corporate flow models, standardized stand-alone models for supplier(s), warehouse and isolated production segments were established and only combinedafter completion. With such standard elements and prototypes defined, a company can readily develop an integrated flow model with production process(es), production lines or a production process as a whole. From the view of later adoption of the existing corporate accounting to ECA,such visualization helps detect, determine, assess and then separate primary from secondary processes.Phase 2: Modification of AccountingIn addition to the visualization of material and energy flows, modeling principal and peripheral corporate processes helps prevent problems involving too high shares of overhead costs on the net product result. The flow model allows processes to be determined directly or at least partially identified as cost drivers. This allows identifying and separating repetitive processing activity with comparably few options from those with more likely ones for potential improvement.By focusing on principal issues of corporate cost priorities and on those costs that have been assessed and assigned to their causes least appropriately so far, corporate procedures such as preparing bids, setting up production machinery, ordering (raw) material and related process parameters such as order positions, setting up cycles of machinery, and order items can be defined accurately. Putting several partial processes with their isolated costs into4context allows principal processes to emerge; these form the basisof process-oriented accounting. Ultimately, the cost drivers of the processes assessed are the actual reference points for assigning and accounting overhead costs. The percentage surcharges on costs such as labor costs are replaced by process parameters measuring efficiency (see Foster and Gupta, 1990).Some corporate processes such as management, controlling and personnel remain inadequately assessed with cost drivers assigned to product-related cost accounting. Therefore, costs of the processes mentioned, irrelevant to the measure of production activity, have to be assessed and surcharged with a conventional percentage.At manufacturing companies participating in the project, computer-integrated manufacturing systems allow a more flexible and scope-oriented production (eco-monies of scope), whereas before only homogenous quantities (of products) could be produced under reasonable economic conditions (economies of scale). ECA inevitably preventseffects of allocation, complexity and digression and becomes a valuable controlling instrument where classical/conventional accounting arrangements systematically fail to facilitate proper decisions.Thus, individually adopted process-based accounting produces potentially valuable information for any kind of decision about internal processing or external sourcing (e.g. make-or-buy decisions).Phase 3: Harmonization of Corporate Data – Compiling andAcquisitionOn the way to a transparent and systematic information system, it is convenient to check core corporate information systems of procurement and logistics, production planning, and waste disposal with reference to their capability to provide the necessary precise figures for the determined material/energy flow model and for previously identified principal and peripheral processes. During the course of the project, afew modifications within existing information systems were, in most cases, sufficient to comply with these requirements; otherwise, a completely new software module would have had to be installed without prior analysis to satisfy the data requirements.Phase 4: Database conceptsWithin the concept of a transparent accounting system, process-based accounting can provide comprehensive and systematic information both on corporate material/ energy flows5and so-called overhead costs. To deliver reliable figures over time, it is essential to integrate a permanent integration of the algorithms discussed above into the corporate information system(s). Such permanent integration and its practical use may be achieved by applying one of three software solutions (see Figure 2).For small companies with specific production processes, anintegrated concept is best suited, i.e. conventional andenvironmental/process-oriented accounting merge together in one common system solution.For medium-sized companies, with already existing integrated production/ accounting platforms, an interface solution to such a system might be suitable. ECA, then, is set up as an independent software module outside the existing corporate ERP system and needs to be fed data continuously. By using identical conventions for inventory-datadefinitions within the ECA software, misinterpretation of data can be avoided.Phase 5: Training and CoachingFor the permanent use of ECA, continuous training of employees onall matters discussed remains essential. To achieve a long-term potential of improved efficiency, the users of ECA applications and systems must be able to continuously detect and integrate corporate process modifications and changes in order to integrate them into ECA and, later, to process them properly.6中小企业环境成本会计的实施一、中小企业的环境成本会计自从成立三十年以来,环境成本会计已经发展到一定阶段,环境会计成本体系已经从以环境成本评估为基础的会计制度核心中分离出来(参考Fichter et al., 1997, Letmathe和 Wagner , 2002)。
本科毕业论文(设计)外文翻译Predicting The Cost Of Environmental Management SystemAdoption: The Role OfCapabilities, Resources And Ownership Structure Since 1996, when the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) designed its environmental management system (EMS) standard, ISO 14001, EMS shave gained increasing attention. Enterprises that adopt an EMS systematically consider their impact to the natural environment by developing an environmental policy, evaluating their internal processes that affect the environment, creating objectives and targets, monitoring progress and obtaining management review. In the United States alone, more than 3553 facilities had certified their EMS to ISO 14001 by 2003 (ISO, 2004), and many more had adopted non-certified EMS.Despite the increasing pace of EMS adoption, little is known about adoption costs. Understanding the variations in EMS adoption expenditures is important for several reasons. First, many management scholars have inferred that a relationship exists be tween an organization’s environmental strategy and its internal capabilities in that basic competencies must be in place before organizations can develop advanced environmental management practices requiring higher-ordered learning proficiencies (Hart, 1995; Christmann, 2000).Second, institutional theory suggests that organizations having the same ownership structures are expected to develop similar complementary resources and capabilities that facilitate EMS adoption. While prior research has pointed to the importance of ownership structures (Mascarenhas, 1989), most studies in this area evaluate one or two ownership structures (Meyer, 1982) and ignore the government enterprise. Other research has suggested that ownership differences exist as they relate to enterprise domain (Mascarenhas,1989), but little is known about the effect ofownership structure on environmental strategy. By studying this institutional setting we may discover important reasons for why different organizations carry out specific activities (Mascarenhas, 1989), especially when we simultaneously consider their organization-specific competencies.Third, managers of many organizations are faced with making a strategic decision about whether or not to adopt an EMS. By understanding the factors that predict the cost of EMS adoption, decisionmakers may be able to assess their organization’s anticipated adoption cost and therefore build internal support for or against it. Finally, an appreciation of ownership differences can also help regulators, who are trying to encourage additional organizations to adopt EMS through various incentivebased programs. These programs offer enterprises subsidies in the form of grants and technical assistance without recognizing that different types of、organizations might vary in their ability to adopt an EMS and that these subsidies might not mitigate EMS adoption costs sufficiently.This study investigates whether organizations with stronger complementary capabilities and greater access to resources incur fewer EMS adoption costs. It discusses whether EMS adoption costs vary by ownership structure and whether these variations relate to their ability to develop complementary capabilities and gain access to resources. Using propositions articulated by the resource-based view of the firm (RBV) and institutional theory, organizations’ internal capabilities were evaluated for three ownership structures publicly traded and privately owned organizations and government operations. These relationships were then tested empirically using EMS adoption cost data for facilities that tracked their expenditures over a 3-year period. The results support RBV tenets in that organizations’ prior internal competencies predicted their EMS adoption costs. They similarly support prior institutional theory in that aggregate ownership structure was related to EMS adoption costs. Together, both theoretical views provide a more comprehensive perspective regarding the cost of adopting an environmental strategy.At the most basic level an EMS can help organizations assure that their management practices conform to environmental regulations. However, the EMSstructure also encourages facilities to prevent pollution by substituting unregulated for regulated inputs and by eliminating some regulated processes altogether. As a result, some enterprises may no longer be subject to some costly regulatory mandates. Further, EMS assist enterprises to scrutinize their internal operations, engage employees in environmental issues, continually monitor their progress, and increase their knowledge about their operations. All of these actions also can help organizations improve their internal operations, achieve greater efficiencies, and create opportunities for improving their strategic value because at a basic level they depend upon intensive employee involvement (Lawler, 1986; Hart, 1995; Cole, 1991) and team production (Makower, 1993; Willig, 1994). Moreover, each of these activities relies on knowledge-based skills that are decentralized and difficult for competitors to replicate, thereby creating opportunities to gain competitive advantage (Hart, 1995).In other instances, EMS have the potential to encourage organizations to adopt more sophisticated environmental strategies that build on their basic pollution prevention principles. For example, as part of their EMS, some enterprises may implement life cycle cost analysis and assess their activities at each step of their value chain—from raw materials access to disposition of used products (Allenby, 1991; Fiksel, 1993). These more advanced environmental strategies leverage basic pollution prevention principles, but also extend them by integrating external stakeholders into product design and development processes (Allenby, 1991). By using these advance strategies, organizations can eliminate environmentally hazardous production processes, redesign existing product systems to reduce life cycle impacts, and develop new products with lower life cycle costs (Hart, 1995). Such actions represent a significant departure from basic pollution prevention principles because they offer a vehicle for organizations to assess all aspects of their operations jointly, thus minimizing the shift of environmental harms from one subsystem to another (Shrivastava, 1995). In the process, EMS can assist the whole organization in achieving greater organizational efficiency (Welford, 1992).However, some organizations may achieve these efficiencies with fewerresources because they possess complementary competencies prior to EMS adoption. As a result, these organizations may enjoy greater opportunities for competitive advantage through continual environmental and organizational improvement.The intangible and knowledge-based processes necessary for EMS adoption may be acquired with fewer resources if complementary capabilities already exist. A capability is considered complementary to EMS adoption if it facilitates the implementation process. For example, an organization’s embedded expertise with complementary knowledge-based processes, such as quality-based and inventory control management systems, may assist the development of more advanced environmental management processes (Hart, 1995). Both management systems facilitate organization-wide changes and encourage an organization to persistently improve its internal operations around a common goal (Falk, 2002). Quality-based management systems require an organization-wide commitment to continually improve the organization’s process and product quality. The success of these systems requires extensive knowledge and monitoringof organizational resources, constraints, production capabilities, and processes (ISO, 2001).Like EMS adopters, organizations that adopt quality-based management systems plan strategically for the long term and develop a capacity to assess their progress toward achieving desired outcomes. Similarly, organizations that have expertise with inventory control management systems also have developed their knowledge-based competencies.Rather than focusing on product and process quality, these systems require organizations to reduce redundant stock materials and unnecessary inputs in the production process (Rosenberg and Campbell, 1985). Organizations that rely on inventory control systems manage materials, productive capacity, and other organizational information (Rosenberg and Campbell, 1985). The skills required to adopt inventory control management systems are complementary to the capabilities required for the successful adoption of EMSs because both systems encourage enterprises to rely on lean production practices that promote reductions in input use, which are important for minimizing impacts to the natural environment.Organizations that adopt these systems, or quality-based management systems, also have developed a culture that embraces continuous internal evaluations that help push the organization toward achieving greater organizational efficiency (Lawrence and Morell, 1995; Welford, 1992)—both within and across operational units—which is critical for environmental improvement (Netherwood, 1998). These competencies are also expected to facilitate EMS adoption and provide a means for organizations to reduce their EMS adoption costs.In addition to expertise with quality-based and inventory control management systems, prior experience with pollution prevention practices is expected to reduce the resources required for EMS adoption. An organization that has experience with pollution prevention reduces the waste it generates in the production process prior to recycling, treatment, or disposal (USEPA, 2001a). Implementing pollution prevention practices require many employees to work together and share their tacit knowledge of the organization’s internal operations in order to minimize impact to the natural environment (Hart, 1995). Organizations that implement pollution prevention practices also have invested in training their employees and therefore can apply their skills toward more advanced forms of environmental management (Kunes, 2001; Hart, 1995). Such notions suggest that an org anization’s environmental management capabilities may be path dependent in that internal proficiencies and learning accrue over a period of time. To attain a higher level of environmental competency (such as EMS adoption) organizations may first need to be expert in basic levels of environmental competency. Similarly, enterprises that have basic pollution prevention practices may reduce their EMS adoption costs because they already have a foundation for proactive environmental strategies that can be extended to support the organization-wide commitments required to adopt an EMS.Even in organizations that already rely extensively on pollution prevention, EMS adoption can have important behavioral and managerial impacts that improve internal efficiencies (Rondinelli and Vastag, 2000). These additional benefits occur because EMSs generally involve more rigorous internal assessments than pollution prevention practices in that they create formal structures to implement corrective actions whenproblems arise (USDOE, 1998). Further, EMSs make a greater attempt to formalize managerial commitment (Rondinelli and Vastag, 2000), community involvement, and external auditing (Coglianese and Nash, 2001) than seen in typical pollution prevention efforts. As a result, while many organizations already employ pollution prevention principles, and have a culture of waste minimization, adopting an EMS may encourage them to take a more systematic approach to building source reduction into all products and processes from their onset, thus institutionalizing existing pollution prevention programs and extending them throughout the organization (USDOE, 1998). For these reasons, an organization’s pollution prevention practices serve as a foundation that facilitates EMS adoption and are anticipated to reduce adoption costs.An organization’s environmental strategy depends on its ability to distribute resources toward developing basic strategic competencies (Aragon-Correa, 1998; Russo and Fouts, 1997).Organizations that operate efficiently allocate their resources toward achieving increased operational effectiveness by sharing financial resources (Bowen, 2002) and increasing environmental expertise between the parent enterprise and its sister facilities and divisions. By sharing and leveraging existing resources, organizations increase their capacity to obtain management process knowledge that is critical for achieving competitive advantage (Wernerfelt, 1984; Grant, 1991; Russo and Fouts, 1997; Collis and Montgomery, 1995; Barney, 1991). Within the environmental setting, resource sharing is especially important because complex environmental initiatives are often implemented in multi-plant organizations and their success depends on the incentives and the resources provided by their parent enterprise (Bowen, 2002).As a result, organizations that receive support from their parent enterprise are more likely to have fewer EMS adoption anizations lacking internal resources may benefit from external support in the form of government-funded grants and technical assistance (Darnall, 2003). Government-funded grants and technical assistance are subsidies that encourage organizations to undertake actions which improve the welfare of society (Stokey and Zeckhauser, 1978). Since 1998 the USEnvironmental Protection Agency (EPA) and state-level environmental agencies have encouraged organizations to adopt EMSs by offering grants and technical assistance (USEPA, 2001b). Regulators are promoting EMS adoption because they believe that EMSs can help organizations increase their operational efficiencies by improving environmental performance (Andrews et al., 2001; USEPA, 2002). At the same time, society may be able to benefit from a cleanerenvironment (USEPA, 2002). However, government subsidies often fail to encourage socially desirable behavior because of hidden adoption expenses and negligible overall benefits (Weimer and Vining, 1992). In other instances, government is able to design its subsidies appropriately, and hence mitigate adoption costs (Stokey and Zeckhauser, 1978). Because EMSs are knowledgebased systems requiring significant environmental assessments, organizations that lack complementary capabilities and internal resources for EMS adoption may find government-sponsored technical assistance particularly useful. To the extent that adoption costs are mitigated, regulators therefore may be able to encourage the more widespread use of EMS.Other enterprises that lack internal resources and capabilities may rely on external assistance from consultants to bolster their less robust internal proficiencies, thereby making EMS adoption possible. Organizations that utilize external consultants do so in large part because they require outside assistance related to a specialized management concern, although most frequently consultants are called on to help increase organizational efficiency (Dean, 1938). Related to the natural environment, consultants can help assess whether a company should pursue a particular environmental strategy and assist with the adoption of that strategy (Eggers, Villani, and Andrews, 2000). While the ‘buying’ of external knowledge is one of the simplest and least costly ways for organizations to acquire expertise (Canback, 1998) and improve their internal efficiencies (Dean, 1938), consultantsupport can also be costly, especially if an organization necessitates multiple consultations over a long duration of time (Marimon, Casadesus, and Heras, 2003). Unlike the outsourcing of financial accounting practices or human resource management,EMS adoption is intended to affect each aspect of an organization’s operations.As a result, organizations that adopt an EMS without basic complementary capabilities are expected to rely on consultants not simply for EMS adoption alone, but also to develop some of their deficient complementary capabilities. Similarly, because EMS adoption generally takes between 4 months and 2 years (Andrews et al., 2001), organizations utilizing consultant support will likely do so over a long duration of time. For these reasons, we anticipate that organizations, which rely on consultants, increase their EMS adoption costs.Source: Nicole Darnall,2006. “Predicting The Cost Of Environmental Management System Adoption: The Role Of Capabilities, Resources And Ownership Structure”. Strategic Management Journal.January.pp.301-304.译文:预测环境成本管理系统采用的作用能力、资源和所有权结构自1996年以来,当国际组织标准化其环境管理系统,ISO14001,环境管理体系获得了越来越多的关注。
外文文献翻译译文原文:Environmental CostsToday, the importance of the environment is widely recognized by companies. With an increase in environmental legislation, corporations realize that they have to factor the environment into their everyday management decisions. However, because some corporations are too focused on earnings and financial costs, the impact of their operations on the environment can only be taken into account if it is quantified in dollar terms —this is significant since environmental costs are often grossly underestimated. According to a 2006 Statistic Canada study, Canadian firms are estimated to have spent a total of $8.6 billion on environmental protection, including 44per cent for capital expenditures and 56 per cent for operating expenditures. This underestimation is due to widespread “hidden” costs. In a study published in 2001, U.S. researcher revealed that for every dollar of environmental costs identified as such by companies, there were hidden environmental costs of $10. Companies can’t manage what they can’t measure; therefore, they need to measure their environmental costs in order to manage and reduce them; or perhaps, turn environmental management into a strategic advantage.What to include in environmental costsThe first challenge is how to define environmental costs. One solution is to use a classification developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in 1995. This classification makes a distinction between internal costs (borne by a company) and external costs (assumed by society as a whole, but generated by the company’s operations). Internal costs include conventional costs (e.g., direct and indirect materials, energy, etc.), potentially hidden costs (e.g., site investigation and preparation, audit, disclosure of information, follow-up of data, etc.), potential costs (e.g., penalties, fines, legal fees, etc.) and costs related to corporate image and relationships (e.g., reputation, campaign to influence perceptions, etc.). Moreover, external costs refer to environ mental degradation and to adverse impacts forhumanbeings, their property and their welfare. There is a debate about whether or not external costs should be part of corpora cost management. However, more stringent regulations in terms of environmental liability are increasingly internalizing costs that have heretofore been considered external. This distinction between internal and external costs is crucial to measuring environmental costs.Life-cycle costing, environmental balance, full-cost accounting, total-cost accounting and activity-based costing are costing methods used by companies. These methods are not mutually exclusive and a number of parameters are common to several methods.Life-cycle costingLife-cycle costing is based on a more global approach of life-cycle analysis. There are two major methods based on a product’s life cycle, e.g. from research and development to disposal (the “cradle to grave” approach) or its reuse/ recycling by the producer (the “cradle to cradle” or C2C approach), tak ing into account factors such as transportation. Life-cycle analysis, a method recognized by ISO 14000 standards, consists in analyzing each and every flow of input and output materials for each product. More specifically, in environmental terms, this approach analyzes the actual and potential impacts of these flows on the environment. As such, it includes three stages: (i) an inventory of all flows related to energy, water, raw materials, air and emissions; (ii) a follow-up of the qualitative or quantitative measure of the induced environmental impact; and (iii) an interpretation of the results and an assessment of opportunities for reducing environmental impacts. This approach only makes it possible to include environmental impacts, and not environmental costs.Life-cycle costing recognizes the environmental costs generated by a company throughout a product’s life cycle, using two types of analysis jointly (on a weighted or unweighted basis) or individually: (i) the financial life-cycle cost that discounts monetary impacts from the environment to the firm, and (ii) the environmental life-cycle cost that monetizes all environmental impacts that were identified during the life-cycle analysis, e.g., impaired resources. Life-cycle costing demonstrates that costs can be several times higher than investments over a product’s life cycle. Thismakes life-cycle costing especially relevant for products with a long lifespan or with relatively high operating costs, such as real estate and highways. In addition, the discounting of costs, e.g. the recognition of time, makes it possible to compare the costs of two products. However, this advantage may also be the main drawback of this method, as it raises the problem of correctly planning for future costs and selecting an appropriate discount rate. In fact, discounting specific environmental costs is controversial, since environmental impacts increase over time. It is therefore not unusual for costs to be nil today, but exceedingly high a few years from now, which is contrary to the very principle of discounting. Accordingly, discounting environmental costs could lead to minimizing financial interest for projects that reduce future environmental costs.Moreover, these two methods raise the same problem of uncertainty as to future repercussions. It may be a good idea to use sensitivity analyses, scenarios, and ranges to allow for the probability that certain contingencies will occur. A more meaningful restriction relates to the fact that these methods exclude consideration of all types of costs. Intangible costs, including those driven by relations with stakeholders, are not considered, nor are contingent costs, since it is not easy to relate such costs to a specific phase in the life-cycle of a product, making it highly improbable that they will be included in life cycle methods.Environmental balanceThe environmental balance method consists in identifying, and then measuring, the flows of inputs and outputs of a firm, a service, a process or a product in terms of energy, water, materials, waste or emissions. It can therefore be used at the inventory stage of the life-cycle analysis or as an initial step of many other methods. The underlying assumption of this method is based on the law of conservation of thermodynamic masses—total inputs are by definition equal to total outputs plus the net accumulation of materials in the system. All inputs become outputs, hence the term “balance.” The part of a flow that actually goes into the production of goods can be used to indicate the percentage loss of materials and, accordingly, the opportunities to improve the production process. Similarly, a large number ofenvironmental performance indicators can be determined from the data produced by an environmental balance. Traditionally, an environmental balance is performed in physical, non-monetary terms (kilograms, kilowatts, etc.). Moreover, a sub-category of environmental balance, called material flow analysis (MFA), allows a company to include an allocation stage of flows to each of its various products.Two major criticisms have been levelled at the environmental balance method. First, its input/output analyses fail to measure environmental impacts, as they relate strictly to a company’s use of natural resources without regard to their valu e for the environment. The second major criticism is that this method fails to provide monetary information. However, the value of flows could be estimated in monetary terms if required. In addition, the environmental balance is generally used only as a prerequisite to the use of other methods.Full-cost accountingThe full cost represents an allocation of all costs to a product (materials, labour, overhead, etc.) including potential and actual environmental costs. With this approach, it is possible to obtain enhanced operational knowledge and to select products with a lower cost (whether it be environmental or not). However, in environmental terms, full cost often refers to a consideration of the monetary value of external costs. This raises the problem of how complex it is to monetize the cost of externalities.Total-cost assessmentThe total-cost assessment method, developed by the Tellus Institute, is similar to full-cost accounting. Whereas the latter approach is generally used to measure the cost of products, total-cost assessment is often carried out to measure the cost of capital investments. Additionally, the classification of costs used for a total-cost assessment requires the identification of costs that are specifically related to the environment. The full-cost accounting method deals with all of the costs related to a product, and does not require that environmental costs be identified.The major advantage of total-cost assessment is that it includes more of the costs relating to a capital investment or a product than life-cycle costing, e.g. intangible and contingent costs, while still taking the entire life cycle into account. Thus, it measuresdirect and indirect costs, contingent and intangible costs with due consideration for risks and, accordingly, the related probabilities that they will occur. In addition, external costs can be included in a total-cost assessment, and this method can be applied simply by using software containing a database to assess external costs related to pollutants and compute them according to the probability that they will occur. Activity-based costingOne of the primary problems with measuring and managing environmental costs is related to the allocation of such costs to the activities or products that generated them. In fact, many companies treat environmental costs as overhead and don’t identify them as related to the environment, which contributes heavily to the underestimation of environmental costs. Activity-based costing can therefore enable a firm to allocate environmental costs to activities, and then to products, overcoming any inaccuracies related to their inclusion in overhead. It should be noted, though, that using this approach requires the prior identification of environmental costs. Activity-based costing can be used the traditional way or by inserting an “environmental” driver to allocate environmental costs either to activities first and products second, or from an “environmental” activity to the products that generate the costs.How to measure external environmental costsAlthough there are several methods to measure external costs, the three major methods are: 1) control costs, 2) restoration costs and 3) damage costs.1) Control costsThe underlying assumption for this method is that the cost of environmental impacts (including pollution) for a company would be equal to the cost of installing, operating and maintaining technologies that might have enabled the company to avoid such damage to the environment. The logic is based on marginal cost, e.g. the cost of an additional unit of damage is estimated by the cost that the company would have been required to spend to avoid such damage. This is the most simple method of measuring external costs, and the easiest to justify, as it generates the cost that a company would actually have incurred to avoid the production of externalities or thatit will incur in future should regulations require it to reduce the damage that it causes. One way to obtain these costs is to refer to the costs incurred by businesses in countries where regulations are more stringent or to engineering or environmental consultant studies. However, this method does not really estimate the cost of environmental damages, but rather a theoretical value for the company.2) Restoration costsIt is also possible to estimate externalities based on the cost of restoration or treatment of the damage that has been caused. For instance, when the Exxon Valdez struck a reef in 1989, the 11 million gallons of oil that were spilled generated over $1.25 billion in restoration costs. Still, the applicability of this method is restricted by the lack of data on costs incurred by the company and other firms in the industry.3) Damage costsThis methodology is used to estimate the cost of the damage per se. It includes a number of methods designed to estimate, scientifically or economically, the cost of damages to the environment. The methods include, notably a) the market price method and b) the conditional assessment method.a) Market price method: The cost is equal to the value of similar goods on the market. One example would be the difference in price between two perfectly identical homes, on perfectly identical lots, one of which is polluted. The difference in the selling price of the two homes (and of all other homes in the vicinity) would constitute, under this method, an estimate of the cost of the pollution-related damage. However, the absence of a market for most environmental assets makes this method hard to apply.b) Conditional assessment method: This method implies that an affected population is asked directly how much it would be willing to pay (willingness to pay) or to accept (willingness to avoid) for an improvement or a deterioration in the quality of its environment. The sum of the amounts provided is deemed to represent the cost of the externalities. This method is therefore based on a survey and remains highly subjective.Selecting methods of measurementThere are a large number of differences between these various methods. Indeed, not all of them make it possible to monetize environmental costs or to consider all types of costs. Similarly, some methods only allow for the identification and/or allocation of environmental costs.Environmental costs represent an increasingly large portion of the costs incurred by companies (internal costs) and society as a whole (external costs). Several methods exist to measure the costs incurred by companies, including those based on a product’s life cycle, environmental balance, full-cost accounting, total-cost accounting and activity-based costing. Moreover, the environmental costs borne by society, but related to a company’s operations, can also be taken into consideration using a method such as cost of control, of restoration or of the damage itself. The selection of these methods should be combined with the company’s existing methods to avoid excessive costs that relate to a change in method. A cost-benefit analysis on whether to change or modify a cost-management method should be performed. However, it is important to realize that the measurement and management of environmental costs allow companies to allocate such costs to activities and to the products that generated them and, accordingly, to avoid making non-optimal decisions about selling prices, product mix and capital investment. Similarly, they also enable the company to increase stakeholders’ awareness of the costs incurred by the company and to encourage management and employees alike to reduce environmental costs.Source:Rannou.clemenceHenri,Henri.Jean-Francois. Environmental Costs[J].CMA Management,2010,(84):28-32.译文:环境成本现今,公司环境的重要性被广泛的认可。