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Are environmentally responsible firms less vulnerable when investing abroad? The role of reputation

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  • Bazillier, Rémi
  • Hatte, Sophie
  • Vauday, Julien

Abstract

Globalization allows multinational firms to locate strategically the polluting activities in lax countries. This paper revisits the empirical evidence by exploiting heterogeneity in firms’ environmental image. While locating in countries with weak environmental standards is likely to be detrimental for a firm’s image and reputation, investing in corporate environmental responsibility can help firms to convince consumers that they have good environmental practices, even when investing in the “dirty” countries. Exploiting an original database that records an index of environmental responsibility for large European firms, we find that the firms viewed as environment-friendly are more often than others located in countries with weak environmental regulations. We show that our findings are not likely to be driven by omitted variables bias, specific sectors nor particular countries. Interestingly, this relationship is observed only among the firms with a well-established reputation for environmental responsibility.

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  • Bazillier, Rémi & Hatte, Sophie & Vauday, Julien, 2017. "Are environmentally responsible firms less vulnerable when investing abroad? The role of reputation," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 520-543.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jcecon:v:45:y:2017:i:3:p:520-543
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jce.2016.12.005
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    2. Jun Wang & Rui Ma & Xinman Lu & Baoqin Yu, 2022. "Emission reduction cooperation in a dynamic supply chain with competitive retailers," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(12), pages 14261-14297, December.
    3. Jun Wang & Qian Zhang & Xinman Lu & Rui Ma & Baoqin Yu & Huming Gao, 2022. "Emission reduction and coordination of a dynamic supply chain with green reputation," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 3945-3988, September.
    4. Thais Nunez-Rocha & Camelia Turcu, 2019. "Trade in Fuels and Environmental Regulation: A Two-Sided Story," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 61(2), pages 302-343, June.
    5. Morakinyo O Adetutu & Kayode A Odusanya & Eleni Stathopoulou & Thomas G Weyman-Jones, 2023. "Environmental regulation, taxes, and activism," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 75(2), pages 460-489.
    6. Sylvain Marsat & Guillaume Pijourlet & Muhammad Ullah, 2021. "Is there a trade‐off between environmental performance and financial resilience? International evidence from the subprime crisis," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(3), pages 4061-4084, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Corporate social responsibility; Environment; Regulation; Multinationals; Reputation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility
    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth

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