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The Relationship between Manufacturing Enterprise Performance and Environmental Sustainability

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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Science and Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2021) | Viewed by 60559

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Antonio K.W. Lau

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Guest Editor

School of Management, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 02447, Republic of Korea
Interests: operations management; supply chain management; product modularity; corporate social responsibility; China manufacturing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Daphne L. M. YIU

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Guest Editor

School of Business, Macau University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong
Interests: operations management; quality management; product and supply chain complexity

Dr. Cristian Andres Mejia Caballero

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Guest Editor

Department of Innovation Science, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan
Interests: innovation ecosystems; sustainability; circular economy; SDGs; science policy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Environmental sustainability (ES) has emerged as a key area in organizations. Specifically, in the contemporary business environment, ES is becoming a strategic imperative for a wide array of types and sizes of organizations. The increasing customer demand for ecofriendly products, the rising expectation for corporate social responsibility, and stiffening environmental regulations are the key drivers for organizations to undertake ES initiatives. Manufacturing industries have adopted green practices by using recycled materials, reducing emissions, conducting energy audits, promoting green technology innovation, and developing green supply chains and production management. ES is a complex and far-reaching process. Some firms pursue sustainability to improve their practices, whereas others do it to match their competitors’ moves. Most firms are likely to focus on certain ES practices but neglect other sustainability activities. Several researchers have examined the relationship between ES and manufacturing performance but have come up with mixed or inconclusive results. It remains unclear how various types of ES practices affect performance outcomes, particularly in the manufacturing industries. The multifaceted nature of ES requires a better understanding of sustainability practices and how ES influences manufacturing performance. This Special Issue focuses on the recent development of ES and performance in manufacturing industries. New empirical research papers, systematic literature reviews, and case reports are welcome in this issue. Papers dealing with new approaches in green product and process innovation for performance improvement are also welcome.

Prof. Dr. Lau Antonio
Dr. Daphne L. M. YIU
Dr. Cristian Andres Mejia Caballero
Guest Editors

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Keywords

Environmental sustainability
Environmental management
Green innovation
Clean technology
Eco-friendly products
Manufacturing industry
Environmental impact
Manufacturing performance

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Published Papers (12 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 651 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Are Clean Technologies More Effective Than End-of-Pipe Technologies? Evidence from Chinese Manufacturing

by Jiawei Li, Jianghong Zeng, Zhengke Ye and Xiangrong Huang

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(8), 4012; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18084012 - 11 Apr 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2759

Abstract

An increasing number of manufacturing enterprises are adopting environmental technologies to cope with the increasingly severe environmental regulatory pressure, but the existing studies about the impact of environmental technologies on economic performance come up with mixed results. This paper contributes to the literature by using the financial constraints and market advantages as a dual mediating process in this relationship. An empirical test using a sample of Chinese manufacturing enterprises listed in the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchange from 2011 to 2018 is established. The results of regression analyses show that end-of-pipe technologies and clean technologies have a positive effect on firms’ economic performance. Moreover, we find that clean technologies not only directly affect economic performance but also indirectly affect economic performance through mitigating financial constraints. With the negative influence of end-of-pipe technologies on market advantages, the positive economic effect caused by end-of-pipe technologies is weakened. This research provides useful insights into the selection of environmental technologies for manufacturing firms and the establishment of new policies to promote green finance and green consumption. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Relationship between Manufacturing Enterprise Performance and Environmental Sustainability)

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18 pages, 1422 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Interactions of Absorptive Capacity, Buffer Inventory, and Toxic Emissions on Firm Value

by Lik Man Daphne Yiu and Ka Yui Karl Wu

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(4), 1979; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041979 - 18 Feb 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2331

Abstract

A significant amount of research has been conducted on the impacts of emissions reduction, absorptive capacity, and buffer inventory on firm performance. According to the resource-based view (RBV), absorptive capacity and buffer inventory are organizational capabilities and resources to create sustainable competitive advantages. Yet, the resource orchestration perspective (ROP) of the RBV emphasizes that firms need to develop a new capability to orchestrate and deploy their existing capabilities and resources. From an organizational learning perspective, firms with the low-level release of toxic chemicals have established a structured system and systematic organizational routines, strengthening their learning capabilities to share and use internal and external information across functional areas for continuous improvements. This study explores and seeks to understand toxic emissions through systematic operational routines as an organizational mechanism. These routines orchestrate and deploy the firm-specific absorptive capacity and buffer inventory to generate a sustainable competitive advantage. We examine the impacts of the absorptive capacity and buffer inventory on firm value in terms of Tobin’s Q, respectively. We also explore how such impacts are moderated by toxic emissions. Our results show that the absorptive capacity significantly enhances the market value of firms. However, the relationship between the buffer inventory and firm value is insignificant. Our additional analyses indicate that the impacts of the absorptive capacity and buffer inventory on the firm value are both significantly positive when firms release low toxic chemicals. Our results further suggest that firms can maximize their market value with a high absorptive capacity, high buffer inventory, and low toxic emissions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Relationship between Manufacturing Enterprise Performance and Environmental Sustainability)

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21 pages, 554 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Do the Green Credit Guidelines Affect Corporate Green Technology Innovation? Empirical Research from China

by Min Hong, Zhenghui Li and Benjamin Drakeford

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(4), 1682; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041682 - 10 Feb 2021

Cited by 157 | Viewed by 8743

Abstract

Green technology innovation is regarded as an important means to achieve sustainable development. Countries all over the world mainly implement green technology innovation policies from the aspects of environmental regulation and financing constraints. The effect of financing constraint policy on enterprise green technology innovation remains to be investigated. Based on the event of “green credit guidelines” issued by China Banking Regulatory Commission in 2012, this paper collects the panel data of China’s 2825 listed companies from 2007 to 2018, constructs a difference-in-difference model, and studies the impact of green credit guidelines on corporate green technology innovation and its mechanism. The empirical results show: First, green credit guidelines can promote corporate green technology innovation on the whole. Second, the mechanism of green credit on enterprise green technology innovation is identified. Green credit guidelines mainly limited green technology innovation through reducing debt financing, rather than through financing constraints. Third, the impact of green credit guidelines on green technology innovation is heterogeneous. Green credit guidelines have a significant effect on the green technology innovation of state-owned and large enterprises, but have no effect on the green technology innovation of non-state-owned and small ones. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Relationship between Manufacturing Enterprise Performance and Environmental Sustainability)

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28 pages, 884 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Redistribution of China’s Green Credit Policy among Environment-Friendly Manufacturing Firms of Various Sizes: Do Banks Value Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises?

by Yuming Zhang, Chao Xing and David Tripe

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(1), 33; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18010033 - 23 Dec 2020

Cited by 23 | Viewed by 5307

Abstract

According to previous studies, China’s green credit policy, which was launched in 2012, increases environment-friendly manufacturing enterprises’ loan amounts. In this paper, we focus on a redistribution mechanism among environment-friendly manufacturing firms, namely, we determine whether the effects of the green credit policy differ between small and medium-sized environment-friendly manufacturing enterprises (SMEMEs) and large environment-friendly manufacturing enterprises (LEMEs). Using a difference in difference model (DID) and a difference in difference in difference model (DDD), we find that SMEMEs obtain more loans than LEMEs due to the green credit policy. We further analyze three potential foundations of this redistribution mechanism: information asymmetry, financial development, and government environmental investment. The results demonstrate that the redistribution effect occurs in both low and high information asymmetry conditions but only in regions with satisfactory financial development and with lower government environmental investment. Our findings enrich the literature on green credit, sustainable finance, and small finance, and they provide references for enterprises, banks, and governments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Relationship between Manufacturing Enterprise Performance and Environmental Sustainability)

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29 pages, 1299 KiB

Open AccessArticle

How High-Polluting Firms Suffer from Being Distracted form Intended Purpose: A Corporate Social Responsibility Perspective

by Xue-Zhou Zhao, Jun Chen, Feng-Wen Chen, Wei Wang and Senmao Xia

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(24), 9197; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17249197 - 9 Dec 2020

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2736

Abstract

High-polluting industries are regarded as the main sources of air pollutant emissions and the major factors that significantly destroy the ecological environment. Corporate innovation in high-polluting industries improves the energy consumption efficiency and reduces the emission of air pollutant, which mitigates the conflict between environment and economy. Using the sample of China’s listed firms from 2010 to 2017, this study examines the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and financialization on corporate innovation in high-polluting industries. The results show that there is a positive association between CSR and corporate innovation, while there is a negative association between financialization and corporate innovation. Furthermore, the financialization of high-polluting firms can alleviate the promotion role of CSR in the innovation process. The financialization of state-owned enterprises in high-polluting industries may not have a crowding-out effect on research and development (R&D), but it can limit the R&D promotion effect of CSR engagements. In contrast, the financialization of non-state-owned enterprises will hinder corporate innovation, but it will not affect the association between CSR and technology innovation. We also find that the financialization of high-polluting firms with low financial constraints can alleviate the promotion role of CSR engagements in innovation. Meanwhile, the CSR engagements of high-polluting firms with high financial constraints play a stronger role in corporate innovation. During the implementation of environmental policies, the negative association between financialization and corporate innovation has been strengthened. Our findings can encourage high-polluting firms to make more efforts in environmental protection and social stability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Relationship between Manufacturing Enterprise Performance and Environmental Sustainability)

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21 pages, 1825 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Research Trends in Green Product for Environment: A Bibliometric Perspective

by Amit Kumar Bhardwaj, Arunesh Garg, Shri Ram, Yuvraj Gajpal and Chengsi Zheng

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(22), 8469; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17228469 - 16 Nov 2020

Cited by 45 | Viewed by 6875

Abstract

The term “green products” is used commonly to describe the products that seek to protect or enhance the environment during production, use, or disposal by conserving resources and minimizing the use of toxic agents, pollution, and waste. Hence, green products offer potential benefits to the environment and human health. Therefore, environmentally conscious consumers have shown an enhanced inclination for them. Consumer preferences, environmental activism, and stringent regulations have forced sustainability-oriented firms to shift their focus to producing green products. The present study uses bibliometric tools and various indicators to discern research progress in the field of green products over the period 1964–2019. Further, VOSviewer software is applied to map the main trends. A total of 1619 publications during the study period were extracted from the SCOPUS database using different keywords related to the green products. The data analysis indicates that the field of green products has experienced significant growth since 1964, especially in the last 14 years. In terms of publications and citations, the United States is the leading country. The field of research concerning green products has evolved from the early debates on sustainable design, green marketing, sustainable development, and sustainability. The topic seems to be advancing into a variety of green themes related to consumer trust and purchase intentions, branding and loyalty, and environmental and health consciousness. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Relationship between Manufacturing Enterprise Performance and Environmental Sustainability)

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18 pages, 762 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Green Innovation and Business Sustainability: New Evidence from Energy Intensive Industry in China

by Liang Li, Hajar Msaad, Huaping Sun, Mei Xuen Tan, Yeqing Lu and Antonio K.W. Lau

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(21), 7826; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17217826 - 26 Oct 2020

Cited by 121 | Viewed by 8902

Abstract

Chinese manufacturing has recently undertaken the responsibility of energy conservation and emission reduction to address climate change. This research analyzes green innovation on business sustainability in the energy-intensive industry in China from the manager perspective, researched data from 229 Chinese managers via structural equation modeling (SEM). The results demonstrated that green innovation had three dimensions: green product innovation, recycling, and green publicity. Business sustainability also had three dimensions: financial performance, environmental performance, and social performance. It also shows that green innovation had a significant effect on business sustainability in the energy-intensive industry. More specifically, we found that recycling has more impact on social performance when compared with green publicity. However, green publicity has a large effect on environmental performance; moreover, green product innovation has more impact on financial performance than green publicity. We also found that environmental performance has a positive effect on financial and social performance results. The alternative models were used to examine the second-order factors of green innovation and business sustainability to test the study’s robustness and supported our findings. Thus, this study contributes to the field by helping managers to make decisions when dealing with sustainable environmental management. It provides new empirical evidence to support the development of a low-carbon circular economy and realization of a carbon-neutral goal by 2060 in China. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Relationship between Manufacturing Enterprise Performance and Environmental Sustainability)

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14 pages, 1398 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Impacts of Environmental Regulation on the Green Transformation and Upgrading of Manufacturing Enterprises

by Liang Shen, Runjie Fan, Yuyan Wang, Zhaoqing Yu and Rongyun Tang

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(20), 7680; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17207680 - 21 Oct 2020

Cited by 39 | Viewed by 3930

Abstract

Since environmental problems are becoming increasingly prominent, macro policies and social development have placed higher requirements on manufacturing enterprises to promote green transformation and upgrading (GTU) in China. Considering that different manufacturing enterprises choose different green technology innovation levels for GTU under environmental regulation, a game model between manufacturing enterprises and the government is constructed. The relationship between the green technology innovation level (GTIL) and the environmental regulation intensity is analyzed. Through numerical examples, the influences of environmental regulation and consumer preference on system decisions are further examined. Moreover, an econometric model is constructed to explore the influence that the environmental regulation exerts on the GTIL using panel data from the Chinese manufacturing industry. Our results show that the increase in environmental regulation intensity contributes to improving GTIL and promoting the GTU of manufacturing enterprises. Furthermore, as the environmental regulation is enhanced, the sales price decreases, benefiting consumers. Consumers’ preference for high-GTIL products is conducive to GTU under environmental regulation. Empirical analysis shows that there is a U-shaped relationship between environmental regulation and the GTIL. Only when the intensity reaches a threshold can the environmental regulation be beneficial to improve the GTIL and promote the GTU of Chinese manufacturing enterprises. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Relationship between Manufacturing Enterprise Performance and Environmental Sustainability)

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15 pages, 473 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Internal Control Quality, Enterprise Environmental Protection Investment and Finance Performance: An Empirical Study of China’s A-Share Heavy Pollution Industry

by Liu Yang, Han Qin, Quanxin Gan and Jiafu Su

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(17), 6082; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17176082 - 21 Aug 2020

Cited by 56 | Viewed by 6570

Abstract

As an important measure of enterprise governance, internal control can enhance the organizational rationality of the enterprise, ensure that the enterprise consciously assumes social responsibility for the protection of the natural environment and resources, and promote the sustainable development of the national economy. Using data from China’s A-share heavy pollution industry listed companies from 2009 to 2018, this study explored the relationships among internal control quality, enterprise environmental protection investment, and financial performance. The results show that the quality of internal control has a significant positive impact on enterprise environmental protection investment and financial performance. Enterprise environmental protection investment has a significant positive impact on financial performance and plays a partial intermediary role in the positive impact of internal control quality on financial performance. While expanding the theory of resource-based concepts, this study clarified the positive impact of corporate environmental management and practical behavior on corporate value and provides a theoretical basis for companies to actively implement environmental protection responsibilities, strengthen internal environmental management capabilities, and enhance corporate value. At the same time, it also provides a basis for the government to issue relevant environmental protection policies, strengthen enterprise internal control construction guidelines, and encourage third-party organizations to evaluate the effectiveness of enterprise internal control. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Relationship between Manufacturing Enterprise Performance and Environmental Sustainability)

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20 pages, 4396 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Capacity Sharing and Capacity Investment of Environment-Friendly Manufacturing: Strategy Selection and Performance Analysis

by Lei Xie and Hongshuai Han

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(16), 5790; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17165790 - 10 Aug 2020

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 3882

Abstract

Many small manufacturing factories suffer insufficient environment-friendly capacity after eliminating the outdated and environmental-harmful production capacity according to stringent environmental rules and regulations. This paper analyzes two strategies that the manufacturer with limited environment-friendly capacity may take to tackle this problem, i.e., investing in building environment-friendly capacities and collaborating with the manufacturer with sufficient environment-friendly capacity in capacity sharing. In a supply chain with two competing manufacturers, this paper builds game-theoretical models and investigates equilibrium solutions under three scenarios (no capacity investment or sharing, capacity investment, and capacity sharing). Then this research investigates the feasible regions of these two strategies and compares the performance of each manufacturer under each scenario. The findings show that both capacity investment and capacity sharing can effectively reduce the profit loss of the manufacturer with limited capacity, while only capacity sharing benefits both manufacturers. The feasibility of these two strategies depends on the initial capacity volume and the capacity investment cost coefficient of the manufacturer with limited capacity. Moreover, the preference of the manufacturer with limited capacity for each strategy depends on the capacity investment cost coefficient. When the capacity investment cost coefficient is relatively high, the win-win situation exists for supply chain members. Furthermore, with the use of chaos theory, the paper shows how to adjust the capacity investment in each period to keep the system stable. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Relationship between Manufacturing Enterprise Performance and Environmental Sustainability)

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27 pages, 3216 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Improving the Effectiveness of Multi-Agent Cooperation for Green Manufacturing in China: A Theoretical Framework to Measure the Performance of Green Technology Innovation

by Shi Yin, Nan Zhang and Baizhou Li

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(9), 3211; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17093211 - 5 May 2020

Cited by 33 | Viewed by 4754

Abstract

A green manufacturing system is an important tool to realize green transformation of the manufacturing industry. The systematicness of green technology innovation as the key foundation of green manufacturing supports the entire huge green manufacturing system. In order to improve the effectiveness of multi-agent cooperation, it is necessary to analyze a series of green technology innovation achievements of manufacturing enterprises under multi-agent cooperation. First of all, inter-indicator correlation analysis and exploratory factor analysis were used to construct the evaluation index system of the green technology innovation performance of manufacturing enterprises under multi-agent cooperation. Then, a secondary combined evaluation model was constructed based on the evaluation conclusions. Finally, a theoretical framework was constructed to measure the performance of the green technology innovation of manufacturing enterprises under multi-agent cooperation. The results of this study are as follows: The evaluation index system of the green technology innovation performance of manufacturing enterprises under multi-agent cooperation is composed of the technology output, economic output, and social effect of green technology innovation. The key factors that influence the green technology innovation performance of manufacturing enterprises under multi-agent cooperation are the proportion of green technology transformation in traditional technology, the number of papers published jointly by multi-agent cooperation, the user acceptance of green technology products, and the degree of improvement of public environmental preference and consciousness. A fusion of technology of subjective and objective methods is an effective evaluation technique and can be applied to evaluate the performance of green technology innovation. The secondary combined evaluation combines the evaluation conclusions obtained by each single evaluation method in a certain form. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Relationship between Manufacturing Enterprise Performance and Environmental Sustainability)

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Review

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16 pages, 3361 KiB

Open AccessReview

The Academic Landscapes of Manufacturing Enterprise Performance and Environmental Sustainability: A Study of Commonalities and Differences

by Cristian Mejia and Yuya Kajikawa

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(7), 3370; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18073370 - 24 Mar 2021

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2435

Abstract

This article reviews literature on manufacturing enterprise performance (MEP) and environmental sustainability (ES) to identify their commonalities and distinguishing factors; it is expected to help determine gaps and paths for future research. Topics are classified based on patterns in the citation networks of 7308 and 6275 MEP and ES articles, respectively. Additionally, a semantic linkage was computed to reveal overlap in vocabulary between the two topics. A total of 17 and 21 topics were found in MEP and ES, respectively, where the main shared theme was the green supply chain. However, research on biofuels is unique to ES, and privatization is unique to MEP, among others. The concept of “performance” has also been covered by MEP and ES researchers. This article provides an objective snapshot of current research trends based on quantitative data, and the findings may be used to guide future research directions at the intersection of MEP and ES. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Relationship between Manufacturing Enterprise Performance and Environmental Sustainability)

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