The relationship between the environmental and economic performance of firms: an empirical analysis of the European paper industry

TLDR

The paper reviews theoretical frameworks linking environmental and economic performance, focusing on the Porter hypothesis. The study investigates the link between environmental and economic performance in European paper firms. The authors conduct an empirical analysis of European paper industry firms. Results support a uniformly negative relationship, suggesting a need for a more nuanced view of the Porter hypothesis. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., ERP Environment.

Abstract

Abstract This paper examines the relationship between the environmental and economic performance of firms in the European paper manufacturing industry. It initially discusses possible functional relationships between environmental and economic performance rooted in different theoretical frameworks and links these to recent empirical and theoretical analyses of the Porter hypothesis. Following this, it reports the results of an empirical study carried out in the European paper industry. Findings fit better with ‘traditionalist’ reasoning about the relationship between environmental and economic performance, which predicts the relationship to be uniformly negative. In particular they confirm the necessity for a more differentiated view of the Porter hypothesis. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment.