Author, as appears in the article.: Jové-Llopis, Elisenda; Segarra-Blasco, Agustí

Department: Economia

URV's Author/s: Segarra Blasco, Agustí

Keywords: Sme Firm growth Europe Eco-strategy

Abstract: This study investigates the effects of eco-efficiency actions on firm performance in terms of sales growth in an extensive sample of 11,336 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) located in 28 European countries. Our empirical results suggest that not all eco-strategies are positively related to better performance, at least not in the short term. We found that European companies using renewable energies, and recycling or designing products that are easier to maintain, repair, or reuse, perform better. Those that aim to reduce water or energy pollution, however, seemed to show a negative correlation to firm growth. Our results also indicate that high investment in eco-strategies improves firm growth, particularly in new members that joined the EU from 2004 onwards. Finally, we observed a U-shaped relationship between eco-strategies and firm growth, which indicates that a greater breadth of eco-strategies is associated with better firm performance. However, few European SMEs are able to either invest heavily or undertake multiple eco-strategies, thus leaving room for policy interventions.

Thematic Areas: Zootecnia / recursos pesqueiros Renewable energy, sustainability and the environment Medicina i Management, monitoring, policy and law Interdisciplinar Historia Hardware and architecture Green & sustainable science & technology Geography, planning and development Geografía Geociências Environmental studies Environmental sciences Environmental science (miscellaneous) Ensino Engenharias iii Engenharias ii Engenharias i Enfermagem Energy engineering and power technology Education Computer science (miscellaneous) Computer networks and communications Ciências agrárias i Building and construction Biotecnología Biodiversidade Arquitetura, urbanismo e design Arquitetura e urbanismo

licence for use: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/

ISSN: 19370709

Author's mail: agusti.segarra@urv.cat agusti.segarra@urv.cat

Author identifier: 0000-0001-6316-3171 0000-0001-6316-3171

Record's date: 2023-07-31

Papper version: info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Link to the original source: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/1/281

Licence document URL: http://repositori.urv.cat/ca/proteccio-de-dades/

Papper original source: Sustainability. 10 (1):

APA: Jové-Llopis, Elisenda; Segarra-Blasco, Agustí (2018). Eco-Efficiency Actions and Firm Growth in European SMEs. Sustainability, 10(1), -. DOI: 10.3390/su10010281

Article's DOI: 10.3390/su10010281

Entity: Universitat Rovira i Virgili

Journal publication year: 2018

Publication Type: Journal Publications