THE ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF VOLUNTARY ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE OF FIRMS: A CRITICAL REVIEW (original) (raw)

Firms' Environmental Performance: Voluntary Actions and Managerial Attitudes

This study considers Malaysian palm oil mills' Environmental Performance from two aspects: voluntary actions and firm's internal factors effects. Having a good understanding of the factors affecting the environmental performance of firm helps policy-makers develop more effective environmental policies. In fact, analyzing the factors helps the firm evaluate and improve the results of their voluntary actions. Environmental performance, in this study, is specified as a function of voluntary actions, managerial attitudes, and some control variables. Our findings show that voluntary actions have the highest contribution to a firm's environmental performance among others. Managerial attitudes toward improving environmental performance also have a significant effect on the firm's environmental performance. However, age and size seem to have negative effects. Our results reveal that public owned firms are more polluting than their privately owned counterparts.

Efficiency gains within firms under voluntary environmental initiatives

Journal of Cleaner Production, 2001

This paper focuses on efficiency gains that voluntary environmental initiatives may achieve within the firm. Current debate concerning the extent and significance of inefficiencies within firms is critically important to the progress of energy and environmental policies.

An Examination of the Relationship Between Environmental Practices and Firm Performance

2002

Recently, there has been a great deal of interest in the research literature regarding how environmental practices (EPs) can improve firm performance. According to Rondinelli and Vastag (1995), firms may have been reacting to an increasingly difficult regulatory environment or responding to market pressure. Either way, the responses of firms to environmental pressures has led to practices that impact profitability. Currently, more firms are trying to understand the benefits of a proactive approach to environmental policies. Some firms may be motivated to become environmentally proactive since it could lead to more efficient use of resources and improve corporate image. Despite this intuitive argument, many firms are reluctant to take a more aggressive and proactive approach to EPs, due to a dearth of evidence that benefits exceed the costs of pursuing these initiatives. This attitude is attested to by the relatively low number of ISO 14000 certifications that have been issued to U.S. firms (NIST 1998, ISO 2001). Disciplines Operations and Supply Chain Management

Why do Firms Implement Voluntary Environmental Actions and How Are These Activities Evaluated? An Empirical Investigation in Mexico

Journal of Management and Sustainability, 2014

Since green sustainability is obviously challenging to all companies, a clearer understanding of the perceptions of industry practitioners will assist those actors-government, industrial and civil associations and non-governmental organizations-interested in supporting green actions to inspire new ways of improving compromise and participation of private firms in the solution of the environmental problem. The objective of this work was to identify specific drivers and potential barriers to green actions perceived by firms operating in a developing economy like Mexico. Multinationals, Mexican firms with international operations, and Mexican firms with local operations were considered for this study in order to contrast their motivations, inhibitors, and indicators of environmental performance. A qualitative approach was used to collect information about 34 firms. The main driver of green practices was social responsibility for the environment while the principal inhibitor was the low environmental consciousness of the market. Differences between the distinct types of firms are discussed.

The impact of voluntary environmental protection instruments on company environmental performance

Business Strategy and The Environment, 2004

In the last decade there has been increasing emphasis on the use of voluntary environmental protection tools such as corporate environmental reporting (CER) and environmental management systems (EMSs). There has been relatively little research, however, on the impact of these tools on the actual environmental performance of companies. This paper presents the findings of a survey of 40 companies operating in Western Australia to determine the extent to which the implementation of two voluntary instruments has influenced company environmental performance. The research considered four questions: To what extent have CER and EMSs influenced the environmental performance of companies operating in Western Australia? What are the characteristics of these influences? How does the influence of EMSs on environmental performance compare to that of CER? Have other external factors concurrently influenced environmental performance?In general, most respondents indicated that EMSs had influenced environmental management practices to some extent. On the other hand, CER was seen more as a public relations exercise and had less impact on company practices compared with EMSs. Other factors that influenced environmental performance included pressure from clients, senior management, the public and regulators; corporate culture; and cost savings. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Firm’s Environmental Performance: A Review of Their Determinants

American Journal of Economics and Business Administration, 2010

Abstracts: Problem statement: The role of environment in global economic development is vital since it is the life-support system providing sources of food and water, pleasant surroundings and sceneries and transportation lines. Firms' environmental performances are of high interest in worldwide environmental protection. Approach: Many factors affect firms' environmental performance. Some of these are of external origin while others are of the internal ones. Several empirical studies have sought to identify these factors. Most of the studies, however, had analyzed merely one of the determinants of the environmental performance neglecting the others. Based on a review of fifty related studies, this research identified and reviewed the effects of three major determinants of firms' environmental performance. Results: The results suggested that using marketbased instruments and command-and-control approach to control pollution does not and should not prevent other factors from being considered. Just complying with the regulations was not sufficient to ensure prevention of environmental degradation. Moreover, the public and private costs of these methods of environmental protection were significant. In this study also the effected of voluntary actions doing by Firms were analyzed. Our findings showed that it is still unclear whether or not these actions lead to an improvement in firms' environmental performance. Most previous studies on the effects on firms' environmental performances of voluntary actions were not unanimous. Conclusion: The study also considered the effects on firms' environmental performance of managerial attitudes. It followed that a logical development in the economic literature could be realized by analyzing the effects on firms' environmental performance of managerial attitudes. In addition, although firms' characteristics had been incorporated in the majority of relevant studies in the past, they present mixed conclusions. In fact, in order to make a proper policy, it is recommended that firms' environmental performance be comprehensively considered, that is together with its all determinants.