Green Investment Strategies and Export Performance: A Firm-Level Investigation

Antonietti, Roberto; Marzucchi, Alberto

doi:10.2139/ssrn.2331970

Cited by 8 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 75 publications

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“…This confirms the argument that ITs are potentially more advantageous -from an economic as well as environmental point of view -than EOPTs (Frondel et al, 2007), although the specific role of ITs on business performances remains difficult to assess (Klassen, 2000). The positive effects of EOPTs on labour productivity contrast with the findings of Antonietti and Marzucchi (2013) and, in general, with the view that, as green investment adoption is often the outcome of behaviours of mere compliance to environmental regulations, they inevitably cause additional costs, which in turn erode a firm's global competitiveness (Ambec et al, 2013). Such a result is of particular interest, since EOPTs represent more than two-thirds of total investments in the environmental protection of Italian manufacturing firms.…”

Section: Tab 2: Effects Of Green Investments On Productivity Dynamic Specificationsupporting

confidence: 73%

“…The role of ITs, however, remains difficult to assess, as they should be placed among the firms' wider investment strategies (Klassen, 2000). With reference to a sample of Italian manufacturing industries, Antonietti and Marzucchi (2013) show that the firms that have invested in environmental technologies and in a more efficient use of raw materials have experimented an improvement of the export capacity, especially in countries that adopt stricter environmental legislation. In one of the few studies that explicitly consider the possibility that green technologies can be the result of reasons that differ from the obligations imposed by environmental regulations, Antonietti and Marzucchi (2014) highlight a positive impact of investments in ITs only for firms characterised by lower levels of productivity.…”

Section: Relationship Between Investments In Green Technologies and Productivity: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although both have the aim of limiting polluting emissions, ITs reduce emissions prima facie by modifying the polluters' production process and/or by adopting cleaner production methods, while EOPTs curb emissions by implementing add-on measures such as anti-pollution devices (Frondel et al, 2007). As ITs generally include the development of new products and/or new production processes, they are considered potentially more advantageous from an economic, as well as an environmental, point of view (Antonietti and Marzucchi, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The green investments and competitiveness of the Italian manufacturing system

Cassetta¹,

Pini²

2018

Sinergie Italian Journal of Management

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Purpose of the paper:This paper aims to verify whether investments in climate change mitigation and adaptation would result in sectoral gains in relation to the way in which resources are allocated and used, thus potentially contributing to the competitiveness of Italian manufacturing firms.Methodology: We carried out an econometric analysis on a data set drawn from the annual Istat Structural Business Statistics (SBS) with specific reference to manufacturing sectors based on their size class during the middle years of the economic crisis (2009)(2010)(2011)(2012).Findings: We find that expenditures in climate change mitigation and adaptation have positive and significant effects on business performance in terms of labour productivity over the whole period considered.Research limits: Some limitations apply to this study. The relationship between investments in environmental technologies and different measures of economic performance should be explored, possibly from a comparative perspective. Additional research is also needed to explore firm-level environmental behaviours in order to bring out potential heterogeneity and difference in economic performances.Practical implications: Our results are in line with the hypothesis that firms having environmental concerns and devoting substantial resources to green technologies may also improve their economic performance and competitiveness. Evidence from this study also indicates that there is great potential in adopting more proactive environmental strategies other than compliance-driven ones. From this perspective, the so-called Paris Agreement creates huge market opportunities at a global level.Originality of the paper: Several studies have recently attempted to assess the effects of the decarbonisation process on business performance and industrial competitiveness. This paper brings new insights into the economic effects of environmental activities and green management by focusing on the relationship between investments in green technologies and productivity, still regarded as the foundation of industrial competitiveness.

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Section: Tab 2: Effects Of Green Investments On Productivity Dynamic Specificationsupporting

confidence: 73%

Section: Relationship Between Investments In Green Technologies and Productivity: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The green investments and competitiveness of the Italian manufacturing system

Cassetta¹,

Pini²

2018

Sinergie Italian Journal of Management

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“…EREI benefit more from the use of external information sources) or in the productivity (sales over employees) or in the role of barriers to innovation, which are perceived as more intense for EREI than for other EI (Rennings and Rammer, 2011). Evidence is also found that the effects of firm's "green" investment strategy improve firm's productive efficiency only when the investment in cleaner production technologies is targeted at reducing (simultaneously) both the externalities and the use of raw materials (Antonietti and Marzucchi, 2013). Furthermore, firms' ability to generate profits may differ, depending on their resource bases, between those that respond to a policy compliance by introducing end-of-pipe innovations and those that redesign their production processes and services (Russo and Fouts, 1997).…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental innovations and profitability: how does it pay to be green? An empirical analysis on the German innovation survey

Ghisetti

Rennings

2014

Journal of Cleaner Production

353

246

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Die Dis cus si on Pape rs die nen einer mög lichst schnel len Ver brei tung von neue ren For schungs arbei ten des ZEW. Die Bei trä ge lie gen in allei ni ger Ver ant wor tung der Auto ren und stel len nicht not wen di ger wei se die Mei nung des ZEW dar.Dis cus si on Papers are inten ded to make results of ZEW research prompt ly avai la ble to other eco no mists in order to encou ra ge dis cus si on and sug gesti ons for revi si ons. The aut hors are sole ly respon si ble for the con tents which do not neces sa ri ly repre sent the opi ni on of the ZEW. I Das Wichtigste in Kürze II Non-technical SummaryThe achievement of the goals set by the broad 10-year growth strategy "Europe 2020" of the European Commission, aiming by 2020 at a smart, sustainable and more inclusive economy, is intertwined with improvements towards greener production processes. The generation and adoption of Environmental Innovations by firms are consequently keys to improve the sustainability of the production processes, either when innovations are integrated in the production process (Cleaner Production measures), or when innovations are add-on measures (End-of-Pipe technologies). Whereas a consensus on the determinants of Environmental Innovations seems to be growing, still widely debated are the economic implications of their adoption. Are firms missing economic opportunities when they commit resources to improve their environmental performances, or is it true the opposite? A deep research effort has been devoted to the analysis of the economic performance effects of improvements in the environmental performances, at various levels of analysis, but still no clear answer has been provided to the question whether it pays or not to be green.We contribute to this debate by proposing a differentiation between different typologies of Environmental Innovations. Our main argument is that it depends on how to be green, i.e. the "box" of Environmental Innovations has to be opened to disentangle the competitiveness effect of their adoption. We find support to this argument by using data on German firms extracted from the merge of two waves of the Mannheim Innovation Panel for the years 2011 and 2009. Our results suggest that profitability gains depend on the typology of innovation considered. In other terms, it cannot be argued a priori whether it pays or not to adopt greener production processes, as it is needed to specify the typology of innovation considered. Efficiency improving innovations, such as those innovations that reduce the use of materials or energy per unit of output are found to positively impact firms' economic performances. Contrarily, some negative profitability effects might be associated with innovations that are targeted at reducing production negative externalities, such as reduction of air, soil, water and noise pollution as well as those to replace dangerous materials. Although they may be profitable in the long run due to improved environmental regulation, it does not pay off in the short run when environmental regulation...

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“…A series of items were used to measure results associated to pro-environmental change, with consideration of the possibility of attaining cost-related and differentiation-related advantages for the firm, considering recent literature (e.g. Antonietti and Marzucchi, 2014;Lai and Wong, 2012;Lannelongue et al, 2015). Specifically, we used a set of 7 items (Table 1): 3 to measure efficiency results, 3 to measure market results and 1 to measure stakeholder relations results.…”

Section: Short-mid-term Economic Performancementioning

confidence: 99%