Corporate Environmentalism: Motivations and Mechanisms

Posted: 27 Oct 2016

See all articles by Elizabeth Chrun

Elizabeth Chrun

University of Washington - Department of Political Science

Nives Dolšak

University of Washington

Aseem Prakash

University of Washington - Department of Political Science

Date Written: October 2016

Abstract

Corporate environmentalism (CE) pertains to firm-level efforts to reduce pollution and resource use along with protecting natural habitats. Importantly, firms pledge to undertake these actions beyond the requirements of the law. Although historically CE efforts focused on resource conservation, their contemporary focus is on pollution reduction to reduce direct harm to humans and their communities and on the protection of environmental sinks. We review two broad categories of CE: direct CE and indirect CE. Direct CE, whether undertaken unilaterally or collectively, pertains to firms themselves adopting policies that reduce the environmental impact of their activities, or disclosing information about their environmental performance. Indirect CE refers to policies of actors (such as financial institutions) that encourage firms seeking their resources (through loans, venture capital, etc.) to commit to environmental stewardship policies. Three key lessons emerge. First, firm-level characteristics, particularly size and economic performance, encourage CE. Second, although pressure from external stakeholders, especially environmental nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), has played an important role in discouraging policies that harm the environment, its effect on encouraging proenvironmental activities remains unclear. Third, the literature is ripe with serious methodological issues. The endogeneity between firms’ economic and environmental record and their CE efforts poses difficulty in drawing causal inferences.

Suggested Citation

Chrun, Elizabeth and Dolšak, Nives and Prakash, Aseem, Corporate Environmentalism: Motivations and Mechanisms (October 2016). Annual Review of Environment and Resources, Vol. 41, pp. 341-362, 2016, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2859483 or http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-110615-090105

Elizabeth Chrun (Contact Author)

University of Washington - Department of Political Science

101 Gowen Hall
Box 353530
Seattle, WA 98195
United States

Nives Dolšak

University of Washington ( email )

Seattle, WA 98105

Aseem Prakash

University of Washington - Department of Political Science ( email )

101 Gowen Hall
Box 353530
Seattle, WA 98195
United States

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