Infrastructuring socio-ecological stewardship: accounting, governance and circular economy transitions in construction

Abstract

Purpose – This study examines how accounting, adaptive governance and financial infrastructures interact with circular economy (CE) initiatives in the construction industry. It explores how product-as-a-service (PaaS) business models challenge conventional assumptions around ownership, valuation and accountability, foregrounding accounting’s infrastructural role in shaping socio-ecological stewardship and long-term material commitments. Design/methodology/approach – This is a qualitative exploratory study of two PaaS cases (“Road-as-a-Service” and “Façade-as-a-Service”) incorporating eleven focus groups with 45 professionals from financial, legal and technical domains. Data are thematically analysed through a framework integrating corporate biosphere stewardship, adaptive governance and radical traceability, while remaining open to emergent institutional tensions. Findings – The findings highlight frictions between CE aspirations and linear infrastructures underpinning organisational practices. Participants surfaced challenges around residual value estimation, intertemporal accountability, financing adaptability and governance flexibility. These challenges crystallised into three interconnected themes – transition accountability, adaptive governance and material stewardship – which structure the analysis of how circular economy principles encounter existing institutional arrangements. Accounting emerged not merely as a reporting function but as a dynamic, contested site where ecological, material and financial futures are recursively negotiated and reconfigured. Socio-ecological stewardship emerged as a situated practice requiring continual realignment of valuation, governance and traceability infrastructures across institutional and temporal boundaries. Originality/value – This study contributes to understanding accounting as constitutive infrastructure for sustainability transitions, moving beyond instrumental approaches to accounting for sustainability. It provides empirical insights into how accounting, legal and financial infrastructures might be reconfigured to support more adaptive and ecologically attuned business practices, offering a situated perspective for enabling socio-ecological stewardship in construction.