Abstract
We investigate the effects of environmental policy (Climate Change Act – CCA), sustainable development frameworks (Global Reporting Initiative – GRI; UN Global Compact - UNGC) and corporate governance (CG) mechanisms on environmental performance (Carbon Reduction Initiatives – CRIs and Actual Carbon Performance – GHG emissions) of UK listed firms. We use generalised method of moments (GMM) estimation technique to analyse data consisting of 2,245 UK firm-year observations over the 2002-2014 period. First, we find that the CCA has a positive effect on CRIs, and this effect is stronger in better-governed firms. Second, we find that the GRI-based framework is positively associated with CRIs. Third, we find that firms with poor CG structures have lower actual carbon performance compared with their better-governed counterparts. Overall, our evidence suggests that firms can symbolically conform to environmental policy (CCA) and sustainable development frameworks (GRI, UNGC) by engaging in CRIs without necessarily improving actual environmental performance (GHG emissions) substantively.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 415-435 |
| Number of pages | 21 |
| Journal | Business Strategy and the Environment |
| Volume | 27 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Early online date | 12 Dec 2017 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Mar 2018 |
Keywords
- Environmental policy
- climate change act and GHG emissions
- sustainable development and global reporting initiative
- stakeholder engagement
- corporate governance
- institutional theory
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Business,Management and Accounting
- Finance
- Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
- Global and Planetary Change
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This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Haque, F., and Ntim, C. G. (2018) Environmental Policy, Sustainable Development, Governance Mechanisms and Environmental Performance. Bus. Strat. Env., 27: 415–435, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2007. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.