Integrating institutional theory and the resource-based view (RBV), this study investigates the concurrent influence of external institutional pressures and internal capabilities on carbon accounting (CARACC) adoption within Vietnam, an emerging market context. We test a model incorporating three institutional pressures (regulatory, stakeholder, and market) and three internal capabilities (leadership commitment, accounting capability, and IT systems), analyzing survey data from 412 Vietnamese enterprises via PLS-SEM. Results reveal that internal capabilities are the predominant drivers of CARACC implementation. Leadership commitment has the biggest effect (β = 0.382, p < 0.001), followed by IT systems (β = 0.285, p < 0.001) and accounting capability (β = 0.254, p < 0.001). While statistically significant, external pressures have a comparatively weaker effect. Crucially, leadership commitment's hypothesized moderating role on the relationship between regulatory pressure and CARACC was unsupported (β = 0.012, p > 0.05), suggesting adoption remains a passive, compliance-driven response rather than a strategically internalized initiative. This research offers a pioneering integrated framework for CARACC in emerging economies, providing critical insights for managers to prioritize internal capacity-building and for policymakers to design more effective regulatory frameworks to accelerate the green transition.
