Work

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

Year: 2019

Type: article

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.

Source: Environmental and Resource Economics

DOI: 10.1007/s10640-019-00361-8

Authors: Johan Graafland, Reyer Gerlagh

Institution: Tilburg University

Language: English

Topic: Environmental Sustainability in Business

Subfield: Marketing

Field: Business, Management and Accounting

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Decent work and economic growth

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $2,690