The purposes of this research study is to investigate factors impacting on environmental accounting and environmental cost management; environmental disclosure; and financial and non-financial reports that are related to environmental issues of industrial firms in the northern part of Thailand. The mixed-method approach were applied to the study in order to collect necessary data from sample firms. The unit of analysis were 225 sample firms. Research results showed that conducting accounting reports that included details of environmental expenses, and establishing environmental management plans for employee learning and training were the most influential factors for firm initiation in environmental accounting, and the most influential factors that made firms include environmental practices in their organizations, respectively. In addition, administrators suggested that the most influential factors in environmental disclosure were: firm image about environmental conservation (in the customer dimension) which impacted on customeracceptance, and employee development towards environmental management (in the corporate governance dimension).
Regression analysis results revealed that: 1) corporate environmental governance and stakeholder motivation had positive relationship with firm decisions to conduct environmental accounting; 2) national initiative in environmental accounting, national and international law, and stakeholder motivation had positive relationship with firm decisions towards environmental disclosure; and 3) national initiative in environmental accounting, and corporate governance had negative relationship with environmental costs of the firms. Furthermore, analysis of in-depth interview by means of content analysis confirmed the same results as those of the quantitative analysis. Twenty-one administrators agreed that national and international law, corporate governance, and stakeholder motivation had influences on administrative decisions to conduct environmental accounting, environmental reports, environmental disclosure, and environmental-cost presentation. However, the study found that the sample firms had no practical approaches to conduct environmental accounting. They disclosed and reported not all but only some environmental management issues that were required by regulations and law. Environmental disclosure was considered the social trend and firm image building. Therefore, in order for firms to systematically conduct corporate environmental governance and environmental accounting, they need financial and human capital as well as a model of best practices from larger firms.