An environmental awareness is increasingly important in contemporary world. In particular, the global aspects of CO2 emissions are increasingly relevant and subject to international political actions. Therefore, it is important to understand what kind of firms show a higher environmental consciousness. In this paper we analyze the determinants, at a firm level, of the monitoring of CO2 emissions. In particular, we analyze the effect of several variables: the national context, the firm size, the competitive environment, the nature of the firm ownership, the human capital level of the firm, the management characteristics, the innovative capability of the firm. The relationship between firm characteristics and environmental practices has only recently been investigated (Liu, Li & Su, 2019). These studies have shown that there is a link between "environmental behavior" and internal characteristics of the company (Fürst & Oberhofer, 2012; Montalvo, 2008; Wirth, Kulczycka, Hausner, & Koński, 2016), including property, size (Shvarts, Pakhalov, & Knizhnikov, 2016; Teles, Ribeiro, Tinoco, & Caten, 2015) and financial characteristics (Farag, Meng, & Mallin, 2015). In particular, large companies seem more inclined to environmentally-friendly behaviors, thanks to their greater financial capacities that allow them to face the costs of implementing such practices. As far as ownership is concerned, public enterprises, having "social" objectives, are more prone to behaviors that respect the environment. A lively competitive environment also seems important, because correct environmental behavior can be a factor of competitive advantage (Johnstone and Labonne's, 2009). Naturally, public regulation strongly affects environmental behavior (Reijnders, 2003; López-Gamero, Claver-Cortés & Molina-Azorín (2009); Tang and Tang, 2012). We conduct such analysis in a context which can be considered in the “ascending” part of the environmental Kuznets curve, that is where the concern for environmental protection may be overcome by the desire to grow economically. In fact, we consider emerging and transition countries of Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Nort-Africa we use data from the Business Environment and Performance Survey (BEEPS), a joint initiative of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank group. Data are quite recent, from the 6th release (2018-19).
"What makes firms more sensitive to environmental problems?" Presentazione per il Workshop SIEPI (Società Italiana di Economia e Politica Industriale), L'Aquila, 16-17 giugno 2022.
Roberto Iorio
;Rosamaria d'Amore
2022-01-01
Abstract
An environmental awareness is increasingly important in contemporary world. In particular, the global aspects of CO2 emissions are increasingly relevant and subject to international political actions. Therefore, it is important to understand what kind of firms show a higher environmental consciousness. In this paper we analyze the determinants, at a firm level, of the monitoring of CO2 emissions. In particular, we analyze the effect of several variables: the national context, the firm size, the competitive environment, the nature of the firm ownership, the human capital level of the firm, the management characteristics, the innovative capability of the firm. The relationship between firm characteristics and environmental practices has only recently been investigated (Liu, Li & Su, 2019). These studies have shown that there is a link between "environmental behavior" and internal characteristics of the company (Fürst & Oberhofer, 2012; Montalvo, 2008; Wirth, Kulczycka, Hausner, & Koński, 2016), including property, size (Shvarts, Pakhalov, & Knizhnikov, 2016; Teles, Ribeiro, Tinoco, & Caten, 2015) and financial characteristics (Farag, Meng, & Mallin, 2015). In particular, large companies seem more inclined to environmentally-friendly behaviors, thanks to their greater financial capacities that allow them to face the costs of implementing such practices. As far as ownership is concerned, public enterprises, having "social" objectives, are more prone to behaviors that respect the environment. A lively competitive environment also seems important, because correct environmental behavior can be a factor of competitive advantage (Johnstone and Labonne's, 2009). Naturally, public regulation strongly affects environmental behavior (Reijnders, 2003; López-Gamero, Claver-Cortés & Molina-Azorín (2009); Tang and Tang, 2012). We conduct such analysis in a context which can be considered in the “ascending” part of the environmental Kuznets curve, that is where the concern for environmental protection may be overcome by the desire to grow economically. In fact, we consider emerging and transition countries of Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Nort-Africa we use data from the Business Environment and Performance Survey (BEEPS), a joint initiative of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank group. Data are quite recent, from the 6th release (2018-19).I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
