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Environmental performance, manufacturing sectors and firm growth: structural factors and dynamic relationships

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  • Giulio Cainelli
  • Massimiliano Mazzanti
  • Roberto Zoboli

Abstract

This paper investigates the correlation between sectoral environmental performance and firm growth, using a large data set of 61,219 Italian manufacturing firms and sector environmental–economic accounts. Specifically, the paper investigates the extent to which the correlation between (past) emissions intensity and environmental regulation influences firms’ economic growth. Our results show a trade-off: structurally, higher emissions intensity gives firms more freedom and relaxes the constraints on growth. This is a trade-off which rejects our hypothesis that economic and environmental performance might dynamically be positively correlated. However, although lower emissions intensity does not pay in terms of promoting turnover, there seems to be a non-linear relation characterising the economic growth–environmental performance relationship. Transforming the prevalent trade-off in a possible joint dynamics in which poor environmental performances hampers firm growth and investment in greener technologies might be associated with positive economic performance, thus becomes possible. Copyright Springer Japan 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Giulio Cainelli & Massimiliano Mazzanti & Roberto Zoboli, 2013. "Environmental performance, manufacturing sectors and firm growth: structural factors and dynamic relationships," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 15(4), pages 367-387, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:envpol:v:15:y:2013:i:4:p:367-387
    DOI: 10.1007/s10018-013-0064-8
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    Cited by:

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    2. Ghisetti, Claudia & Quatraro, Francesco, 2017. "Green Technologies and Environmental Productivity: A Cross-sectoral Analysis of Direct and Indirect Effects in Italian Regions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 1-13.
    3. Davide Antonioli & Simone Borghesi & Massimiliano Mazzanti, 2014. "Are Regional Systems Greening the Economy? the Role of Environmental Innovations and Agglomeration Forces," Working Papers 2014.42, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    4. Teemu Makkonen & Sari Repka, 2016. "The innovation inducement impact of environmental regulations on maritime transport: a literature review," International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 10(1), pages 69-86.
    5. Gilli, Marianna & Mancinelli, Susanna & Mazzanti, Massimiliano, 2014. "Innovation complementarity and environmental productivity effects: Reality or delusion? Evidence from the EU," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 56-67.
    6. Aldieri, Luigi & Kotsemir, Maxim & Vinci, Concetto Paolo, 2017. "Jacobian spillovers in environmental technological proximity: the role of Mahalanobis index on European patents within the Triad," MPRA Paper 77274, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Merriam Haffar & Cory Searcy, 2017. "Classification of Trade-offs Encountered in the Practice of Corporate Sustainability," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(3), pages 495-522, February.
    8. Grazia Cecere & Massimiliano Mazzanti, 2015. "Green jobs, innovation and environmentally oriented strategies in European SMEs," SEEDS Working Papers 2115, SEEDS, Sustainability Environmental Economics and Dynamics Studies, revised Dec 2015.
    9. Davide Antonioli & Grazia Cecere & Massimiliano Mazzanti, 2018. "Information communication technologies and environmental innovations in firms: joint adoptions and productivity effects," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 61(11), pages 1905-1933, September.
    10. Colombelli, Alessandra & Quatraro, Francesco, 2016. "Green startups and local knowledge bases: Newborn suppliers of energy-related technologies in Italian Provinces," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 201606, University of Turin.
    11. Massimiliano Corradini & Valeria Costantini & Susanna Mancinelli & Massimiliano Mazzanti, 2015. "Interacting innovation investments and environmental performances: a dynamic impure public good model," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 17(1), pages 109-129, January.
    12. Joaquín Cañón-de-Francia & Concepión Garcés-Ayerbe, 2019. "Factors and Contingencies for the “It Pays to Be Green Hypothesis”. The European Union’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) and Financial Crisis as Contexts," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-15, August.
    13. Ghisetti, Claudia & Quatraro, Francesco, 2014. "Is green Knowledge improving Environmental Productivity? Sectoral Evidence from Italian Regions," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 201411, University of Turin.
    14. Alessandra Colombelli & Francesco Quatraro, 2019. "Green start-ups and local knowledge spillovers from clean and dirty technologies," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 52(4), pages 773-792, April.
    15. Massimiliano Mazzanti & Ugo Rizzo, 2014. "Moving'diversely'towards'the'green'economy.'CO2'abating'techno organisational'trajectories'and'environmental'policy'in'EU'sectors," SEEDS Working Papers 0914, SEEDS, Sustainability Environmental Economics and Dynamics Studies, revised May 2014.
    16. Massimiliano Corradini & Valeria Costantini & Massimiliano Mazzanti & Susanna Mancinelli, 2014. "Linking innovation investment and environmental performance: an impure dynamic public good model," SEEDS Working Papers 0814, SEEDS, Sustainability Environmental Economics and Dynamics Studies, revised Apr 2014.
    17. Garcés-Ayerbe, Concepción & Cañón-de-Francia, Joaquín, 2017. "The Relevance of Complementarities in the Study of the Economic Consequences of Environmental Proactivity: Analysis of the Moderating Effect of Innovation Efforts," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 21-30.
    18. Claudia Ghisetti & Massimiliano Mazzanti & Susanna Mancinelli & Mariangela Zoli, 2015. "Do financial constraints make the environment worse off? Understanding the effects of financial barriers on environmental innovations," SEEDS Working Papers 0115, SEEDS, Sustainability Environmental Economics and Dynamics Studies, revised Jan 2015.
    19. Davide Antonioli & Grazia Cecere, 2014. "ICT and environmental innovations in a complementary fashion. Is the joint adoption by firms economically visible?," SEEDS Working Papers 1514, SEEDS, Sustainability Environmental Economics and Dynamics Studies, revised Jun 2014.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Firm growth; Manufacturing; Emissions intensity; Environmental performance; Gibrat model; NAMEA; C23; D21; O32; Q55;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • Q55 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Technological Innovation

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