ANTECEDENTS, CHARACTERISTICS AND CONSEQUENCES: a proposed conceptual model for narrating technological environments disasters
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4270/ruc.2025105Keywords:
Conceptual Model, environmental disaster, financial information, narrativesAbstract
Environmental disaster is a broad event, and the focus of this research is on those classified as technological, meaning they are caused by human action. When they occur, these disasters trigger a multitude of communications, and consequently, many versions of the facts are constructed. One lens through which to observe this scenario is accounting, given that it discloses standardized, periodic, and recurring financial information. Therefore, the objective of this research is to develop a conceptual model capable of connecting disclosed financial information related to environmental disasters. To this end, a trilogy composed of antecedents, characteristics, and consequences was used. Each of these stages was based on variables identified in the literature on environmental disasters. Next, the premises of communication theory were associated, from a process perspective, given that communication with stakeholders occurs through a variety of channels. The development of the conceptual model was successfully completed. Its contribution lies in advancing knowledge on disclosures and their construction of reality through the systematization of information for monitoring and tracking over time, thereby enabling the reduction of information asymmetry. This proposal allows the essence of the underlying events to be preserved throughout the disclosure period and enables the environments in which these events occurred to better justify their consequences and, therefore, create opportunities to avoid harmful impacts. It also provides opportunities for research in the interdisciplinary interface, not reducing studies to consequences but expanding them to an examination of the entire scenario involving the entity, exposing situations that can promote extremities.
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