The Environmental Performance of Firms: The Role of Foreign Ownership, Training, and Experience

Matthew Cole, Robert Elliott () and Eric Strobl ()

Discussion Papers from Department of Economics, University of Birmingham

Abstract: In this paper we extend the debate on the environmental implications of foreign direct investment in developing countries by examining a new mechanism through which foreign influence can affect the environmental performance of firms. We focus on the extent to which key workers who have had previous training or experience in a foreign owned firm transfer and utilise their knowledge gained to the benefit of the local environment. To this end we use detailed firm-level data on manufacturing firms in Ghana. Our econometric results sugggest that the foreign training of a firm's decision maker does reduce fuel use, particularly so in foreign owned firms. Foreign ownership per se does not influence fuel use or total energy use but is found to increase electricity use, perhaps the cleanest form of energy used by Ghanaian firms.

Keywords: Environment; Spillovers; FOreign Direct Investment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F21 F23 Q52 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 28 pages
Date: 2007-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec, nep-eff and nep-env
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Journal Article: The environmental performance of firms: The role of foreign ownership, training, and experience (2008)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bir:birmec:07-08

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