Component 1 (5%):
Research Proposal
Component 2 (25%):
Written submission (3000 words)
A.
Research topic: Climate-change related financial disclosures
The Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) was established in December 2015 to “develop a set of voluntary, consistent disclosure recommendations for use by companies in providing information to investors, lenders and insurance underwriters about their climate-related financial risks” (CPA Australia, 2017, p. 1). As Michael R. Bloomberg, Chair of TCFD puts it “increasing transparency makes markets more efficient, and economies more stable and resilient”. TCFD made some recommendations for CFD. The objective of this research project is to investigate how TCFD recommendations are implemented in corporate reporting practice.
References
CPA Australia (2017) Financial stability board’s task force on climate-related financial disclosures – implications for Australian business and corporate reporting,
https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/~/media/corporate/allfiles/document/professional-resources/sustainability/fsb-task-force-climate-related-financial-disclosures.pdf?la=en
CPA Australia (2018) Reporting on climate change risk: accountants will be needed, IntheBlack,https://www.intheblack.com/articles/2018/01/16/climate-change-financial-disclosures
TCFD Knowledge Hub (2020)
https://www.fsb-tcfd.org/
Required
1. Summarise TCFD’s four core elements on CFD.
2. Review relevant literature (minimum of six research articles) on corporate financial disclosure on environmental and/or climate change information. Synthesize the findings of prior research on the content of corporate environmental or climate-change information disclosure
(see La Trobe University, online library resources
https://search.lib.latrobe.edu.au/primo-explore/search?query=any,contains,climate%20change%20disclosure,AND&query=any,contains,financial,AND&pfilter=lang,exact,eng,AND&tab=default_tab&search_scope=All&vid=LATROBE&lang=en_US&mode=advanced&offset=0)
3. Apply combined Positive Accounting Theory and Institutional Theory to explain factors that may influence corporate accounting policy choice of financial disclosure on environmental (and/or climate change) information.
4. Refer to TCFD’s recommended framework for CFD and analyse the annual reports (2019) of four listed companies (two from Australian Securities Exchange, and two from an overseas stock exchange). The companies selected for analysis can be from any industry.
5. Discuss your findings in the context of prior literature (Point 2) and accounting theories (Point 3).
B.
Submission requirements
1.
Assignment Component 1: Research Proposal (5%)
The research proposal.
2.
Assignment Component 2: Written Report (25%)
a. The written report must be submitted through the
Turnitin
online submission on LMS.
Note: If you experience difficulty in submitting your group assignment online, please contact La Trobe Edu Tech service at
https://latrobe.service-now.com/edt?id=edt_index
for assistance, or by phone 03-94791555
b. The
Turnitin
Similarity Report should be no more than 15%.
c. The University requires fair, consistent and transparent treatment of late submission of assessment tasks. The procedure for late submission is documented in the Late Submission of Assessment Tasks document (Ref. no. 112027D). It states:
The standard penalty for late submission of assessment tasks is 5% of the marks for that task for each delay in submission of a day or partial day up to a maximum of five (5) working days after the due date. Assessment tasks will not be accepted after the earlier of the following occurrences:
The fifth (5th) working day after the due date; or
Feedback on the assessment task has been returned to any student by the Teaching Team member.
Submission of special consideration applications for assignments, mid-semester tests and final examinations should be made online at: https://www.latrobe.edu.au/students/admin/forms/special-consideration/submit-or-review-application.
d. Students are responsible to protect their work and save data by making necessary backup. Loss of data due to a computer or storage devices problems will not be considered a legitimate reason for an extension.
4. Referencing and style
· Assignment must be typed using Word document, with double alignment, and 1.5-lines space.
· Assignment is required to use either an APA or Harvard referencing style (see La Trobe library
http://latrobe.libguides.com/referencing/
for further details).
· Assignment without proper referencing will be subject to substantial deduction of marks. This may result in the assignment being marked zero.
· All online submission assignments should be accompanied by the Academic Integrity Assignment Declaration Form available at:
http://www.latrobe.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/711152/Assignment-Declaration-Form.pdf
5.Preventing plagiarism
5.1 Academic Integrity
Academic integrity means being honest in academic work and taking responsibility for learning the conventions of scholarship. La Trobe University views this seriously as evidenced by the following extract:
Academic honesty is a fundamental principle in teaching, learning, research and scholarship. The University requires its academic staff and students to observe the highest ethical standards in all aspects of academic work and it demonstrates its commitment to these values by awarding due credit for honestly conducted scholarly work, and by penalising academic misconduct and all forms of cheating.
Academic Integrity Procedures (2012, p. 1 of 6)
Academic misconduct includes improper referencing, plagiarism, copying and cheating. You should familiarise yourself with your responsibilities in relation to Academic Integrity and if you have any questions, direct them to your Course Advisor. Information can be found on the website at:
www.latrobe.edu.au/students/academic-integrity
For assistance with referencing visit
http://www.latrobe.edu.au/students/academic- integrity/referencing-help
5.2 Plagiarism is defined as ‘The practice that involves use of another person’s intellectual output and presenting it (without appropriate acknowledgement) as one’s own’.
Examples of plagiarism:
- Word-for-word copying of sentences/paragraphs in an assignment without acknowledgement or with insufficient or improper acknowledgement;
- Downloading essays or assignments from the web and presenting these for assessment;
- Presenting another student’s work or research data as the student’s work;
- Copying out parts of any text without acknowledging the source(s). This may be written text, structures within texts, diagrams, formulae, sound files, still photographs, audio-visual material (sound and image files), graphics/animations/multimedia objects, other computer based material, mathematical proofs, art objects, products and others. This can be done as verbatim copying or paraphrasing.
- The use of someone else’s concepts, experimental results, experimental conclusions or conclusions drawn from analysing evidence or arguments without acknowledging the originator of the idea(s) or conclusion(s).
5.3 Students are responsible for:
· Understanding and respecting the University’s policies and procedures regarding plagiarism, collusion, and other forms of academic misconduct, and as such should only submit work for correction or academic credit that is their own or that properly acknowledges the ideas, interpretations, words or creative works of others;
· Avoiding the lending or making accessible original work to others;
· Being clear about the appropriate referencing rules that are applicable to their field of study;
· Refusing to be a party to another student’s efforts to undermine the academic integrity of the University.
· Seeking assistance with their learning and assessment tasks if they are unsure of appropriate forms of acknowledgement.
Appendix
Part 1 Research Proposal
Project Title
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Task allocation
Summary of TCFD
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Literature Review: Target research articles and other sources
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Theoretical Framework:
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Research Design: Data collection and analysis:
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Part 2 Written Report
The following format will be used for the written submission of your research project.
1. Title of your research assignment
2. Abstract (no more than 200 words)
3. Introduction
4. Review of relevant literature
5. Theoretical/Conceptual framework
6. Data collection and analysis
7. Conclusion
8. References
Part 3 Written Submission Marking Sheet
Requirement
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Assessment Criteria
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Possible Marks
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Marks received
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R1
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Demonstrate the ability to provide succinct summary of the four key elements of TCFD’s recommendations
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15
|
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R2
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Demonstrates the ability to conduct literature review; understand and synthesise research findings on corporate environmental/climate change reporting
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20
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R3
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Demonstrates the ability to apply combined Positive Accounting Theory and Institutional Theory to interpret corporate financial disclosures on climate change information.
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20
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R4
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Demonstrates the ability of data collection and analysis
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20
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R5
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Demonstrates the ability to develop persuasive argument
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15
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Style and presentation
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· The presentation of the results, which should be clear, concise and accompanied by expository text accessible to the reader
· The presentation of the entire assignment, which should be written in English of an appropriate academic register and of a format and standard of presentation acceptable to business study
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10
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Total possible marks out of 100
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100
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Weighting 25%
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25%
|
|
|
|
|
|
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Research Proposal
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5%
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Total
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30%
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