This paper aims to define and measure the environmental capabilities that are applied when the circular economy (CE) is introduced in businesses. Founded on the dynamic capabilities theoretical approach, the study analyzes different environmental competences that firms apply during this process. Environmental management systems, corporate social responsibility, reporting and accountability and other environmental accounting practices are studied in the same analytical framework used to study the environmental capabilities that influence the circular scope (CS) of firms. This study contributes to bridging the gap between academic research focused on environmental accounting and that investigating the introduction of the CE in businesses.,The results were obtained by using partial least squares structural equation modeling to analyze the relationship between environmental capabilities for the CE and the CS achieved by a sample of Spanish firms with more than 50 employees that expressed interest in the CE, eco-design, eco-innovation and other environmental issues.,Based on an analysis using the dynamic capabilities theoretical approach, the results suggest a positive relationship between the CS of firms, their environmental accounting practices and their level of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and accountability. Stakeholders’ pressure – which has a mediating effect on the CS of firms – is also analyzed, adding new insights to recent studies of this topic at the micro-level. The authors also explore whether the CS of businesses, which is related to the degree of their development of capabilities, influences environmental and financial performance.,The new insights obtained in this study can help overcome the limitations of conventional accounting approaches and incorporates a much broader scale of environmental information that can be applied to CE practices. These results also offer insights to practitioners regarding the internal measurement processes related to the CE and regarding CSR in particular for small and medium enterprises, because these metrics can be partially applied depending on the practices introduced in each firm. For policymakers, a better understanding of the CE’s introduction into businesses will contribute to the design of policies that can enhance its deployment, for example, by providing tools that set up regional priorities depending on the CE-related practices adopted by the firms located in the territory.,A CE involves the transformation of a linear economic model into a circular one to reduce dependence on raw materials and energy and to reduce the environmental impact of production and consumption. Understanding how to manage the specific competences that integrate capabilities applied to the CE will allow firms to improve their social and environmental reporting. In addition, other social implications of this study relate to improving relationships with consumers and stakeholders and to the practice of social corporate sustainability.,This study goes beyond previous research on the CE to extend the authors’ knowledge about its adoption at the micro-level by taking a transversal approach, as its subject spans the fields of environmental accounting and the CE while addressing both in a framework of analysis. The analysis of the accounting concerns of the CE in businesses and the study of concerns related to endogenous environmental competences are quite original under the theoretical framework of dynamic capabilities, and this study is a first step in an incipient line of inquiry.

中文翻译：

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企业循环经济的动态能力和环境核算

本文旨在定义和衡量在企业中引入循环经济 (CE) 时应用的环境能力。该研究基于动态能力理论方法，分析了企业在此过程中应用的不同环境能力。环境管理系统、企业社会责任、报告和问责制以及其他环境会计实践在用于研究影响公司循环范围 (CS) 的环境能力的同一分析框架中进行研究。这项研究有助于弥合专注于环境会计的学术研究与调查在企业中引入 CE 之间的差距。结果是通过使用偏最小二乘结构方程模型来分析 CE 和 CS 的环境能力之间的关系获得的，这些样本由拥有 50 多名员工的西班牙公司样本实现，这些公司对 CE、生态设计、生态创新和其他环境问题。基于动态能力理论方法的分析，结果表明公司的 CS、他们的环境会计实践和他们的企业社会责任 (CSR) 和问责制水平之间存在正相关关系。还分析了利益相关者的压力——它对公司的 CS 有中介作用——为最近在微观层面上对该主题的研究增加了新的见解。作者还探讨了企业的 CS，这与他们的能力发展程度有关，影响环境和财务绩效。,本研究中获得的新见解有助于克服传统会计方法的局限性，并纳入可应用于 CE 的更广泛的环境信息做法。这些结果还为从业者提供了与 CE 相关的内部衡量流程以及特别是中小企业的 CSR 相关的见解，因为这些指标可以部分应用，具体取决于每个公司引入的实践。对于政策制定者来说，更好地了解 CE 引入企业将有助于设计可以增强其部署的政策，例如，通过提供工具，根据位于该领土的公司所采用的 CE 相关做法来设置区域优先级。CE 涉及将线性经济模型转变为循环经济模型，以减少对原材料和能源的依赖并减少生产和消费对环境的影响。了解如何管理整合应用于 CE 的能力的特定能力将使公司能够改进其社会和环境报告。此外，本研究的其他社会影响与改善与消费者和利益相关者的关系以及社会企业可持续性的实践有关。本研究超越了先前对 CE 的研究，扩展了作者对其在微观层面采用的知识通过采取横向方法，因为它的主题跨越了环境会计和 CE 领域，同时在分析框架中解决了这两个问题。在动态能力的理论框架下，对企业 CE 会计问题的分析和对内生环境能力相关问题的研究是非常原始的，这项研究是初步调查的第一步。