Linking Environmental and Financial Performance for Privately Owned Firms: Some Evidence from Australia

Abstract

The debate over whether the “green” strategy pays off has been centered overwhelmingly within large public firms. It remains unclear whether “being green” matters to smaller firms such as privately owned or family controlled firms, which are equally heavy polluters but subject to much less public scrutiny. Using a sample of 138 private companies registered in the Australian National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting database over the 2009–2013 period, this study finds that embracing environmental/carbon responsibility has helped these companies gain higher financial returns. However, reducing carbon emissions has not paid off for environmentally sensitive firms, although lowering energy consumption is evidenced to be value creation.

Notes

1 In the 2008–2009 reporting year, entities that had total greenhouse gas emissions (CO₂ equivalent or CO₂‐e) above 125 kilotonnes (KT) or total amount of energy produced or consumed above 500 terajoules (TJ) were required to report. The thresholds change to 87.5 KT and 350 TJ for 2009–2010 and 50 KT and 200 TJ for later years.

2 Under the NGER Act 2007 (Section 23), registered controlling corporations are obliged to report information on greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption to the Greenhouse and Energy Data Officer (GEDO). The GEDO has published an extract of the information reported since 2009.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Wei Qian

Wei Qian is Senior Lecturer at School of Commerce, University of South Australia.

Ke Xing

Ke Xing is Senior Lecturer at Barbara Hardy Institute, University of South Australia.