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PhD Studentship: The Role of Directors’ Duties and Their Relationship With Non-financial Reporting in Achieving Environmental Sustainability University of Essex
MASTS
Accounting & Finance, Customer Service
Posted on Nov 30, 2024
Qualification Type: PhD
Location: Colchester
Funding for: UK Students, Self-funded Students
Funding amount: Living costs stipend at the UK Research and Innovation recommended level per year. The stipend for 2024-25 is £19,237. The rate for 2025-26 TBA.
Hours: Full Time
Placed On: 21st November 2024
Closes: 7th February 2025
Reference: 11367 Law_Business Oct 2025
Project Overview
This is an opportunity to conduct fully funded interdisciplinary research under the ‘Sustainable Transitions – Leverhulme Doctoral Training Programme’ at the University of Essex.
The project provides the opportunity to analyse directors’ duties and the relationship that they have with non-financial reporting in achieving net zero outcomes for the environment.
Directors’ duties are an extremely important component of company law in all jurisdictions of the world. They influence the way that businesses make decisions, formulate strategies and consider ‘externalities’ such as the environment. Directors’ duties generally require decision-makers within companies to act in the best interests of the companies themselves and do not require companies to achieve specific outcomes for the environment, such as net zero carbon emissions, biodiversity loss, waste and pollution. In recent years non-financial reporting has developed, whether that be through mandatory schemes or one of the many voluntary schemes. Non-financial reporting can play a critical role in the field of corporate accountability relating to sustainable development and net-zero targets, however the relationship between directors’ duties and non-financial reporting in achieving sustainable development has not yet been fully explored.
This project would examine the linkages between directors’ duties and non-financial reporting to consider how reform could improve outcomes for environmental sustainability.
Interdisciplinary Focus and Methods
The interdisciplinary nature of the project would lie in the need to adopt different types of methodologies to tackle core research questions. Whilst traditional forms of legal analysis would be used to consider the law itself, various types of content analysis, derived from the accounting discipline, would be used to assess different characteristics of non-financial reporting.
Person Specification
This opportunity would suit a candidate with a degree/ background in law. In particular legal scholars who have studied corporate law and/or corporate responsibility at Masters level may be well suited. It is not necessary for the candidate to have prior training in business and accounting, as training can be provided on the programme. However, an active willingness to learn new non-legal methodologies would be useful.