Firms' Environmental Performance Research Papers (original) (raw)

The negative effect of people on the environment, which is the most important source of the economic system, is increasing day by day. Global warming, which is caused by unnatural human activities, and environmental destruction caused by it have begun to resonate around the world. When this negative effect is reduced or eliminated, great responsibilities fall into the businesses. Businesses see these practices as a costly element and avoid this responsibility. Eco innovation is considered as a solution to fulfil this responsibility, bringing economic advantage while reducing environmental impacts. The Porter hypothesis argues that eco-innovation practices give rise to cost advantages while offering the opportunity to reduce or eliminate environmental impacts.
Eco-innovation refers to the reduction or implementation of environmental impacts that are developed at a significant level or new products, processes, forms of doing business or marketing activities in comparison to traditional methods. The study was created out of environmental concerns and aimed at investigating the effect on eco-innovation in the financial and environmental performance and the five-year operating history of Turkey's First 500 Large Enterprises has been examined. The study also covered the dynamics of eco-innovation and its obstacles. Data were gathered from the top management of the enterprises, production, environment and managers in the research and development units by the questionnaire method. A total of 219 managers were interviewed with.
Covering the impact of eco innovation on financial and environmental performance together with dynamics and obstacles, the theoretical model was tested by structural equation modeling. Accordingly, it was determined that there was a fit between the model and the data, and the hypothesis tests were made.
Eco-innovation, one of the main research topics of the study, was determined to have a direct positive effect on both cost performance, which is a financial performance component, and pollution prevention and resource saving, which are environmental performance components and indirect positive effect on economic performance. In this sense, the Porter hypothesis is supported by these findings. So businesses can provide cost advantages while reducing the environmental impacts of their operations.
In the analysis of Baron and Kenny (1986) taking into account the three-stage mediated effect of eco-innovation, it has been found that eco-innovation barriers are an intermediary effect between eco-innovation dynamics and eco-innovation. Eco-innovation barriers significantly reduce the impact of eco-innovation dynamics on eco-innovation. The statistical significance of the mediator effect was also measured by the Sobel test. It has been understood from the analyses that eco innovation dynamics have a direct positive impact on the performance dimensions of recycling, resource saving and economic performance, while eco innovation barriers have a negative effect on performance dimensions, pollution prevention, resource saving and cost performance.
However, when environmental resource and development expenditures, capital, energy and technology intensity are controlled, there is a significant difference in the impact of eco innovation on financial performance. Capital intensity and environmental resource and development activities are significantly different in the impact of eco innovation on environmental performance.
This work was supported by Scientific Research Project Coordination Unit of Istanbul University. Project number:23327
Key words: Innovation, Eco Innovation, Eco Innovation Dynamics, Eco Innovation Barriers, Financial Performance, Environmental Performance, ISO 500, Industrial Operations, Structural Equation Modeling.