Poverty Alleviation Through Accounting and Partnerships: A Systematic Review and Future Research Directions

This study analyzes carbon accounting (CA) and true cost accounting (TCA) to measure decarbonization practices to meet the sustainable development goal (SDG) 1 (end poverty in all its forms everywhere). These tools can empower firms to achieve insightful data to pursue a balance between economic, environmental, and social goals. This study also investigates the role of partnerships (SDG 17) in sharing resources and knowledge while adopting decarbonization practices to achieve SDG1. Leveraging SDG17 to meet SDG1 and the overall business model, this study introduces the concept of poverty alleviation business models. This study analyzed 172 articles published between 1990 and 2024 from the Scopus database and Google Scholar using descriptive, bibliometric, and network analyses as well as content analysis. The results highlight that CA helps firms develop decarbonization strategies to promote sustainable practices for SDG1 based on partnerships. This study also highlights that TCA evaluates the economic, social, and environmental impacts of firms' activities, enabling sustainable decision-making and identifying opportunities for poverty alleviation business models. This study provides a pioneering analysis of corporate decarbonization by examining how firms can develop a balanced business model that integrates economic, environmental, and social goals, specifically SDG1. This study explores on the one hand CA and TCA as managerial tools for measuring decarbonization practices through new technologies and renewable resources and, on the other hand, SDG17, particularly Target 17.G, to advance SDG1. This study contributes a novel conceptual framework for poverty alleviation business models that has not been adequately addressed in the history of accounting research.