Stakeholder Pressure and MNEs’ Environmental R&D

This study investigates factors affecting multinational enterprise (MNE)’s environmental research and development (R&D), and observes how stakeholder pressure moderates these relationships. After analyzing 15,025 observations generated by 1,674 multinational firms for the 2004–2012 periods using the ASSET4 database, we find that firms with poor reputations in environmental management and those with long-term oriented compensation policy tend to have higher levels of environmental R&D. Moreover, firms in the biggest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting industries are likely to engage in environmental R&D when they participate in emissions trading. This study also finds that MNEs with a high level of geographic diversification are less likely to have higher levels of environmental R&D when they participate in emissions trading, suggesting the limited effectiveness of current emissions trading system.