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Economic Freedom, Internal Motivation, and Corporate Environmental Responsibility of SMEs

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  • Johan Graafland

    (Tilburg University)

  • Reyer Gerlagh

    (Tilburg University)

Abstract

The effect of economic freedom on firms’ environmental responsible management is still unconcluded. We conjecture that the effects are conditional on a firm’s internal motivation and use a large-scale survey to run an empirical test. The sample consists of 4338 small and medium-sized enterprises from twelve European countries. Distinguishing between intrinsic (environmental) and extrinsic (profit) internal motivations, we find clear support that the effects of economic freedom and intrinsic motivation on corporate environmental performance interact with each other. Our findings explain the ambiguous results of previous empirical studies at the aggregate level.

Suggested Citation

  • Johan Graafland & Reyer Gerlagh, 2019. "Economic Freedom, Internal Motivation, and Corporate Environmental Responsibility of SMEs," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 74(3), pages 1101-1123, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:enreec:v:74:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1007_s10640-019-00361-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s10640-019-00361-8
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    Cited by:

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    3. Olivier Beaumais & Mireille Chiroleu-Assouline, 2020. "Informal versus Formal Corporate Social Responsibility: a Tale of Hidden Green Attitude," Working Papers halshs-03073242, HAL.
    4. Yaoxiaoxue Hong & Xianling Jiang & Beibei Shi & Chang Yu, 2022. "Do Fiscal Environmental Protection Expenditures Crowd Out Corporate Environmental Protection Investments?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-23, October.
    5. Luisa Esteban-Salvador & Ana Felicitas Gargallo-Castel & Javier Pérez-Sanz, 2020. "Environmental Practices in Firms Located in Underpopulated Rural Areas in Spain: The Case of the Province of Teruel," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-16, December.
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    7. Rongjiang Cai & Tao Lv & Xu Deng, 2021. "Evaluation of Environmental Information Disclosure of Listed Companies in China’s Heavy Pollution Industries: A Text Mining-Based Methodology," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-23, May.

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