Making institutional tensions visible: environmental accounting and public value in a municipal corporation

Purpose This study examines how environmental accounting, with a specific focus on carbon footprint analysis, informs the assessment and articulation of public value in municipal corporations characterized by multiple institutional logics – business, compliance, community and environmental. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts an action research methodology conducted within a Southern Italian municipal corporation operating in the waste management sector. One of the authors was embedded in the co-design and implementation of a carbon accounting system. Data collection included participant observation, semi-structured interviews, informal conversations and internal document analysis. The analysis is theoretically grounded in institutional logics theory and a public value framework. Findings The findings show that environmental accounting does not resolve institutional tensions but makes them visible by structuring environmental knowledge and clarifying priorities for action. Business, environmental, community and compliance logics informed different organizational responses, which were subsequently articulated as economic, ecological, social-cultural and political public value outcomes. Environmental accounting supported the identification of critical impact areas, informed strategic and operational decisions, and provided the evidentiary basis through which sustainability initiatives were interpreted and legitimized over time. Originality/value This study reframes the role of environmental accounting in hybrid public organizations by showing how it supports sensemaking, prioritization and legitimacy-building in contexts of persistent institutional tension. It also advances public value research by illustrating how public value is articulated ex post as an evaluative framework grounded in accounting practices. Finally, the findings highlight how actor interpretation and organizational context shape the role of environmental accounting in sustainability transitions within municipal corporations.