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The Effects of Environmental Regulations on the Productivity of Large Companies: An Empirical Analysis of the Spanish Case

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Abstract

This article provides evidence to the debateabout whether or not investments designated forcompliance with environmental performance andtechnology standards favor or harm the workproductivity of companies. A panel data modelis analyzed, which panel refers to 53 largeSpanish companies quoted on the stock exchangeand that have participated in a subsidizedenvironmental protection program during the1990–1995 period, specifically in theIndustrial and Technological Program for theEnvironment (PITMA). A Cobb-Douglas productionfunction is used to relate the workproductivity to a measure of the pollutionabatement investment dedicated to compliancewith standards. The resulting negativecoefficient, although close to zero, should notbe interpreted as a result derived from justany kind of regulation, but rather a result ofthe kind of regulation analyzed in this work,meaning the command and control regulation thatoften binds companies to make environmentalinvestments that are not productive in theconventional economic sense, although they areproductive in terms of environmental quality.In addition, and in order to specify the kindof company to which the conclusions of thispaper are applicable, the characteristics ofthe companies that participated in PITMA areanalyzed comparatively with companies that didnot participate.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Economía y Dirección de Empresas, Universidad de Zaragoza, C/Gran Vía, 2, 50.005, Zaragoza, Spain

    Conchita Garcés Ayerbe & Carmen Galve Górriz

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  1. Conchita Garcés Ayerbe
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  2. Carmen Galve Górriz
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Correspondence to Conchita Garcés Ayerbe.

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Ayerbe, C.G., Górriz, C.G. The Effects of Environmental Regulations on the Productivity of Large Companies: An Empirical Analysis of the Spanish Case. Journal of Management & Governance 5, 129–152 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013061723180

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