IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v65y2012i11p1636-1642.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does going green pay off in the long run?

Author

Listed:
  • Chien, Chin-Chen
  • Peng, Chih-Wei

Abstract

This study uses mandatory disclosures of environmental expenditures for public companies in Taiwan, to examine the impact of investment in pollution control on long-run financial performance. We break down pollution control investments into the following two categories by analyzing the content of the disclosures made in annual reports: (1) pollution prevention and (2) end-of-pipe solutions. Based on a sample of five major polluting industries in Taiwan from 1989 to 2006, we find that firms moving forward proactively with pollution prevention investments have significantly outperformed their counterparts who react sluggishly with end-of-pipe solutions. In addition to the notion that environmental expenditures are not necessarily detrimental to firms, our results also suggest that the often conflicting goals of financial reporting, namely representational faithfulness and macroeconomic growth, may be harmonized if the accounting standards embody the different features of pollution control investments.

Suggested Citation

  • Chien, Chin-Chen & Peng, Chih-Wei, 2012. "Does going green pay off in the long run?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 65(11), pages 1636-1642.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:65:y:2012:i:11:p:1636-1642
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.10.023
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296311003675
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.10.023?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Menguc, Bulent & Ozanne, Lucie K., 2005. "Challenges of the "green imperative": a natural resource-based approach to the environmental orientation-business performance relationship," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 58(4), pages 430-438, April.
    2. Clemens, Bruce & Douglas, Thomas J., 2006. "Does coercion drive firms to adopt 'voluntary' green initiatives? Relationships among coercion, superior firm resources, and voluntary green initiatives," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 59(4), pages 483-491, April.
    3. Megginson, William L & Nash, Robert C & van Randenborgh, Matthias, 1994. "The Financial and Operating Performance of Newly Privatized Firms: An International Empirical Analysis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 49(2), pages 403-452, June.
    4. Kee H. Chung & Stephen W. Pruitt, 1994. "A Simple Approximation of Tobin's q," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 23(3), Fall.
    5. Arora, Seema & Gangopadhyay, Shubhashis, 1995. "Toward a theoretical model of voluntary overcompliance," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 289-309, December.
    6. Salop, Steven C & Scheffman, David T, 1987. "Cost-Raising Strategies," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(1), pages 19-34, September.
    7. Judge, William Q. & Elenkov, Detelin, 2005. "Organizational capacity for change and environmental performance: an empirical assessment of Bulgarian firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 58(7), pages 893-901, July.
    8. Clemens, Bruce, 2006. "Economic incentives and small firms: Does it pay to be green?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 59(4), pages 492-500, April.
    9. Al-Tuwaijri, Sulaiman A. & Christensen, Theodore E. & Hughes, K. II, 2004. "The relations among environmental disclosure, environmental performance, and economic performance: a simultaneous equations approach," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 29(5-6), pages 447-471.
    10. Sarkis, Joseph & Cordeiro, James J., 2001. "An empirical evaluation of environmental efficiencies and firm performance: Pollution prevention versus end-of-pipe practice," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 135(1), pages 102-113, November.
    11. Fama, Eugene F & French, Kenneth R, 1992. "The Cross-Section of Expected Stock Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(2), pages 427-465, June.
    12. J.B. Smith & W A. Sims, 1985. "The Impact of Pollution Charges on Productivity Growth in Canadian Brewing," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 16(3), pages 410-423, Autumn.
    13. Mathur, Lynette Knowles & Mathur, Ike, 2000. "An Analysis of the Wealth Effects of Green Marketing Strategies," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 193-200, November.
    14. Loughran, Tim & Ritter, Jay R, 1995. "The New Issues Puzzle," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(1), pages 23-51, March.
    15. Brammer, Stephen J. & Pavelin, Stephen & Porter, Lynda A., 2006. "Corporate social performance and geographical diversification," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 59(9), pages 1025-1034, September.
    16. repec:bla:jfinan:v:53:y:1998:i:1:p:285-311 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Glen Dowell & Stuart Hart & Bernard Yeung, 2000. "Do Corporate Global Environmental Standards Create or Destroy Market Value?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 46(8), pages 1059-1074, August.
    18. Michael E. Porter & Claas van der Linde, 1995. "Toward a New Conception of the Environment-Competitiveness Relationship," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 97-118, Fall.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Chih-Wei Peng & Mei-Ling Yang, 2014. "The Effect of Corporate Social Performance on Financial Performance: The Moderating Effect of Ownership Concentration," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 123(1), pages 171-182, August.
    2. Henning Madsen & John P. Ulhøi, 2016. "Corporate Environmental Initiatives in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises and Their Outcomes: A Longitudinal Study," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(2), pages 92-101, February.
    3. Ge, Tao & Hao, Zixuan & Chen, Yuan & Chen, Zhanbo, 2024. "Energy intensity constraints and corporate investment strategies: Evidence from Chinese listed enterprises," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    4. Olga Goncalves & Elisabeth Robinot & Hélène Michel, 2015. "Does It Pay to Be Green? The Case of French Ski Resorts," Grenoble Ecole de Management (Post-Print) hal-01591790, HAL.
    5. Min Zhang & Yu Su & Peng Zhu, 2022. "Will Green Innovation Bring about the Financial Spillover Effect? Evidence from China’s High-Carbon Listed Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-20, December.
    6. Elif Akben-Selcuk, 2019. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Financial Performance: The Moderating Role of Ownership Concentration in Turkey," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-10, July.
    7. Sher Jahan Khan & Puneet Kaur & Fauzia Jabeen & Amandeep Dhir, 2021. "Green process innovation: Where we are and where we are going," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(7), pages 3273-3296, November.
    8. Kyung-Hee Park & Jinho Byun & Paul Moon Sub Choi, 2019. "Managerial Overconfidence, Corporate Social Responsibility Activities, and Financial Constraints," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-14, December.
    9. Hu, Yi & Jin, Shuchang & Ni, Juan & Peng, Kai & Zhang, Lei, 2023. "Strategic or substantive green innovation: How do non-green firms respond to green credit policy?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    10. Olga Goncalves & Elisabeth Robinot & Hélène Michel, 2015. "Does It Pay to Be Green? The Case of French Ski Resorts," Post-Print hal-01591790, HAL.
    11. Yuan, Kaihua & Cui, Jingyuan & Zhang, Haipeng & Gao, Xiang, 2023. "Do cleaner production standards upgrade the global value chain position of manufacturing enterprises? Empirical evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    12. Katrina Lintukangas & Jukka Hallikas & Anni‐Kaisa Kähkönen, 2015. "The Role of Green Supply Management in the Development of Sustainable Supply Chain," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 22(6), pages 321-333, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Markus Hang & Jerome Geyer‐Klingeberg & Andreas W. Rathgeber, 2019. "It is merely a matter of time: A meta‐analysis of the causality between environmental performance and financial performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 257-273, February.
    2. Chih-Wei Peng & Mei-Ling Yang, 2014. "The Effect of Corporate Social Performance on Financial Performance: The Moderating Effect of Ownership Concentration," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 123(1), pages 171-182, August.
    3. 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.
    4. Will Gans & Beat Hintermann, 2013. "Market Effects of Voluntary Climate Action by Firms: Evidence from the Chicago Climate Exchange," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 55(2), pages 291-308, June.
    5. Lee, Ki-Hoon & Min, Byung & Yook, Keun-Hyo, 2015. "The impacts of carbon (CO2) emissions and environmental research and development (R&D) investment on firm performance," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 1-11.
    6. Horváthová, Eva, 2010. "Does environmental performance affect financial performance? A meta-analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 52-59, November.
    7. Horváthová, Eva, 2012. "The impact of environmental performance on firm performance: Short-term costs and long-term benefits?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 91-97.
    8. Ghisetti, Claudia & Rennings, Klaus, 2013. "Environmental innovations and profitability: How does it pay to be green? An empirical analysis on the German innovation survey," ZEW Discussion Papers 13-073, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    9. Claudia Poser & Edeltraud Guenther & Marc Orlitzky, 2012. "Shades of green: using computer-aided qualitative data analysis to explore different aspects of corporate environmental performance," Metrika: International Journal for Theoretical and Applied Statistics, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 413-450, January.
    10. Vastola, Vincenzo & Russo, Angeloantonio & Vurro, Clodia, 2017. "Dealing with Cultural Differences in Environmental Management: Exploring the CEP-CFP Relationship," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 267-275.
    11. López-Gamero, María D. & Molina-Azorín, José F. & Claver-Cortés, Enrique, 2011. "Environmental uncertainty and environmental management perception: A multiple case study," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(4), pages 427-435, April.
    12. G Capece & F Di Pillo & M Gastaldi & N Levialdi & M Miliacca, 2017. "Examining the effect of managing GHG emissions on business performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(8), pages 1041-1060, December.
    13. Farinos, Jose E. & Garcia, C. Jose & Ibanez, Ana Ma, 2007. "Operating and stock market performance of state-owned enterprise privatizations: The Spanish experience," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 367-389.
    14. Siddique, Md Abubakar & Akhtaruzzaman, Md & Rashid, Afzalur & Hammami, Helmi, 2021. "Carbon disclosure, carbon performance and financial performance: International evidence," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    15. Grolleau, Gilles & Mzoughi, Naoufel & Pekovic, Sanja, 2012. "Green not (only) for profit: An empirical examination of the effect of environmental-related standards on employees’ recruitment," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 74-92.
    16. Feng, Fang & Sun, Qian & Tong, Wilson H. S., 2004. "Do government-linked companies underperform?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(10), pages 2461-2492, October.
    17. Francesca Di Pillo & Massimo Gastaldi & Nathan Levialdi & Michela Miliacca, 2017. "Environmental Performance Versus Economic-financial Performance: Evidence from Italian Firms," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 7(2), pages 98-108.
    18. Paraskevopoulou, Evita, 2012. "Non-technological regulatory effects: Implications for innovation and innovation policy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 1058-1071.
    19. Leonidou, Leonidas C. & Fotiadis, Thomas A. & Christodoulides, Paul & Spyropoulou, Stavroula & Katsikeas, Constantine S., 2015. "Environmentally friendly export business strategy: Its determinants and effects on competitive advantage and performance," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 798-811.
    20. Altunbaş, Yener & Khan, Atiqur & Thornton, John, 2023. "Do M&As impact firm carbon intensity?11The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the institutions with which they are affiliated.," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:65:y:2012:i:11:p:1636-1642. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.