IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/vrs/enviro/v11y2023i3p1-13n7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Having a better environmental performance translates into a better financial performance: A study of the European food industry

Author

Listed:
  • Gomes Adriana Maria Silva

    (University of Porto, Faculty of Economics, R. Dr. Roberto Frias, s/n, 4200-464 Portugal)

  • de Sousa Paulo Sérgio Amaral

    (University of Porto, Faculty of Economics, R. Dr. Roberto Frias, s/n, 4200-464 Portugal)

  • Moreira Maria do Rosário Alves

    (University of Porto, Faculty of Economics, R. Dr. Roberto Frias, s/n, 4200-464 Portugal)

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between Environmental Performance (EP) and Financial Performance (FP) in the European food industry. The food industry is essential for population sustenance, but the rising population and the consequent increase in food production demand have implications for climate change. The aim of this study was to determine if businesses that consume water more efficiently and have lower CO2 emission intensities might experience improved financial performance. Financial and environmental data were sourced from external databases and company reports, and both quantile regression and correlation analyses were conducted. The results reveal that various sectors within the food industry exhibit different linkages between Environmental Performance and Financial Performance. Furthermore, our findings indicate that water use efficiency can significantly influence financial performance, either positively or negatively, while CO2 emission intensity did not exhibit a definitive impact on Financial Performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Gomes Adriana Maria Silva & de Sousa Paulo Sérgio Amaral & Moreira Maria do Rosário Alves, 2023. "Having a better environmental performance translates into a better financial performance: A study of the European food industry," Environmental & Socio-economic Studies, Sciendo, vol. 11(3), pages 1-13, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:vrs:enviro:v:11:y:2023:i:3:p:1-13:n:7
    DOI: 10.2478/environ-2023-0012
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.2478/environ-2023-0012
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2478/environ-2023-0012?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sandra A. Waddock & Samuel B. Graves, 1997. "The Corporate Social Performance–Financial Performance Link," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(4), pages 303-319, April.
    2. Paul Lanoie, 2008. "When And Why Does It Pay To Be Green?," CIRANO Papers 2008n-02a, CIRANO.
    3. Shameek Konar & Mark A. Cohen, 2001. "Does The Market Value Environmental Performance?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 83(2), pages 281-289, May.
    4. Nizam, Esma & Ng, Adam & Dewandaru, Ginanjar & Nagayev, Ruslan & Nkoba, Malik Abdulrahman, 2019. "The impact of social and environmental sustainability on financial performance: A global analysis of the banking sector," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 35-53.
    5. Wolfgang Schultze & Ramona Trommer, 2012. "The concept of environmental performance and its measurement in empirical studies," Metrika: International Journal for Theoretical and Applied Statistics, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 375-412, January.
    6. Heather Dixon-Fowler & Daniel Slater & Jonathan Johnson & Alan Ellstrand & Andrea Romi, 2013. "Beyond “Does it Pay to be Green?” A Meta-Analysis of Moderators of the CEP–CFP Relationship," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 112(2), pages 353-366, January.
    7. Salama, Aly, 2005. "A note on the impact of environmental performance on financial performance," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 413-421, September.
    8. Horváthová, Eva, 2010. "Does environmental performance affect financial performance? A meta-analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 52-59, November.
    9. Elisabeth Albertini, 2013. "Does Environmental Management Improve Financial Performance? A Meta-Analytical Review," Post-Print halshs-01887802, HAL.
    10. James J. Cordeiro & Joseph Sarkis, 1997. "Environmental proactivism and firm performance: evidence from security analyst earnings forecasts," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(2), pages 104-114, May.
    11. Iwata, Hiroki & Okada, Keisuke, 2011. "How does environmental performance affect financial performance? Evidence from Japanese manufacturing firms," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(9), pages 1691-1700, July.
    12. Quazi, Hesan A. & Khoo, Yee-Koon & Tan, Chin-Meng & Wong, Poh-Seng, 2001. "Motivation for ISO 14000 certification: development of a predictive model," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 29(6), pages 525-542, December.
    13. Olusegun Vincent & Kolawole Yusuff, 2020. "Role of Industry Context in The Firm Environmental-Financial Performance Link: Evidence from the Extractive Sector," Journal of Developing Areas, Tennessee State University, College of Business, vol. 54(1), pages 135-148, January-M.
    14. Wei Qian & Ke Xing, 2018. "Linking Environmental and Financial Performance for Privately Owned Firms: Some Evidence from Australia," Journal of Small Business Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(2), pages 330-347, April.
    15. Milad Abdelnabi Salem, 2019. "Structural equation modelling of the impact of environmental capabilities on competitiveness," International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 68(1), pages 127-147, January.
    16. 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.
    17. Rosa Maria Dangelico, 2015. "Improving Firm Environmental Performance and Reputation: The Role of Employee Green Teams," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(8), pages 735-749, December.
    18. Pena, Edsel A. & Slate, Elizabeth H., 2006. "Global Validation of Linear Model Assumptions," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 101, pages 341-354, March.
    19. Trinks, Arjan & Mulder, Machiel & Scholtens, Bert, 2020. "An Efficiency Perspective on Carbon Emissions and Financial Performance," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    20. Birger Wernerfelt, 1984. "A resource‐based view of the firm," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(2), pages 171-180, April.
    21. Gonenc, Halit & Scholtens, Bert, 2017. "Environmental and Financial Performance of Fossil Fuel Firms: A Closer Inspection of their Interaction," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 307-328.
    22. José Moneva & Beatriz Cuellar, 2009. "The Value Relevance of Financial and Non-Financial Environmental Reporting," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 44(3), pages 441-456, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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 Rathgeber & Stefan Stöckl, 2018. "Economic Development Matters: A Meta‐Regression Analysis on the Relation between Environmental Management and Financial Performance," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 22(4), pages 720-744, August.
    2. Sergio Manrique & Carmen-Pilar Martí-Ballester, 2017. "Analyzing the Effect of Corporate Environmental Performance on Corporate Financial Performance in Developed and Developing Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-30, October.
    3. 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.
    4. Vasileiou, Efi & Georgantzis, Nikolaos & Attanasi, Giuseppe & Llerena, Patrick, 2022. "Green innovation and financial performance: A study on Italian firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(6).
    5. Danquah Jeff Boakye & Ishmael TIngbani & Gabriel Ahinful & Isaac Damoah & Venancio Tauringana, 2020. "Sustainable environmental practices and financial performance: Evidence from listed small and medium‐sized enterprise in the United Kingdom," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2583-2602, September.
    6. Ruiqian Li & Ramakrishnan Ramanathan, 2018. "Impacts of Industrial Heterogeneity and Technical Innovation on the Relationship between Environmental Performance and Financial Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-25, May.
    7. Saqib Aziz & Mahabubur Rahman & Dildar Hussain & Duc Nguyen, 2021. "Does corporate environmentalism affect corporate insolvency risk? The role of market power and competitive intensity," Post-Print hal-03344206, HAL.
    8. Aziz, Saqib & Rahman, Mahabubur & Hussain, Dildar & Nguyen, Duc K., 2021. "Does corporate environmentalism affect corporate insolvency risk? The role of market power and competitive intensity," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    9. Josep Garcia‐Blandon & David Castillo‐Merino & Nour Chams, 2020. "Sustainable development: The stock market's view of environmental policy," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3273-3285, December.
    10. Suhong Li & Thomas Ngniatedema & Fang Chen, 2017. "Understanding the Impact of Green Initiatives and Green Performance on Financial Performance in the US," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(6), pages 776-790, September.
    11. Noordewier, Thomas G. & Lucas, Marilyn T., 2020. "On being green and profitable: Does industry context matter?," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 223(C).
    12. Liu, Zuoming, 2020. "Unraveling the complex relationship between environmental and financial performance ─── A multilevel longitudinal analysis," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 219(C), pages 328-340.
    13. Tzouvanas, Panagiotis & Kizys, Renatas & Chatziantoniou, Ioannis & Sagitova, Roza, 2020. "Environmental and financial performance in the European manufacturing sector: An analysis of extreme tail dependency," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(6).
    14. Ben Lahouel, Béchir & Ben Zaied, Younes & Managi, Shunsuke & Taleb, Lotfi, 2022. "Re-thinking about U: The relevance of regime-switching model in the relationship between environmental corporate social responsibility and financial performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 498-519.
    15. Christian Dreyer & Nadja Guenster & Jakob Koegst, 2019. "Empirical Evidence on Environmental Performance and Operating Costs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-13, June.
    16. Misani, Nicola & Pogutz, Stefano, 2015. "Unraveling the effects of environmental outcomes and processes on financial performance: A non-linear approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 150-160.
    17. Christoph Trumpp & Thomas Guenther, 2017. "Too Little or too much? Exploring U‐shaped Relationships between Corporate Environmental Performance and Corporate Financial Performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(1), pages 49-68, January.
    18. Thi‐Hong‐Van Hoang & Wojciech Przychodzen & Justyna Przychodzen & Elysé A. Segbotangni, 2020. "Does it pay to be green? A disaggregated analysis of U.S. firms with green patents," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 1331-1361, March.
    19. Cortez, Maria Céu & Andrade, Nuno & Silva, Florinda, 2022. "The environmental and financial performance of green energy investments: European evidence," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 197(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:vrs:enviro:v:11:y:2023:i:3:p:1-13:n:7. 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: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciendo.com .

    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.