The Effect of Target Difficulty on Target Completion: The Case of Reducing Carbon Emissions

Ioannou, I, Li, S X and Serafeim, G (2016) The Effect of Target Difficulty on Target Completion: The Case of Reducing Carbon Emissions. Accounting Review, 91 (5). pp. 1467-1492. ISSN 0001-4826

Abstract

Targets are an integral component of management control systems and play a significant role in achieving desirable performance outcomes. We focus on a key environmental performance objective—reduction of carbon emissions—as a setting in which to examine how target difficulty affects the degree of target completion in long-term non-financial performance. We use a novel dataset compiled by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and find that firms setting more difficult targets complete a higher percentage of such targets. We also find that this effect is negatively moderated by the provision of monetary incentives. We corroborate this evidence by showing that target difficulty is more effective for carbon reduction projects requiring more novel knowledge and in high-pollution industries. We discuss limitations and suggest avenues for future research.

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Item Type: Article
Subject Areas: Strategy and Entrepreneurship
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© 2015 American Accounting Association

Date Deposited: 24 Nov 2016 13:16
Subjects: Motivation
Man-environment interaction
Last Modified: 05 Nov 2024 02:40
URI: https://lbsresearch.london.edu/id/eprint/660
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