Anatomy of a paradox: Management practices, organizational structure and energy efficiency

Ralf Martin, Mirabelle Muûls (), Laure de Preux and Ulrich Wagner

Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 2012, vol. 63, issue 2, 208-223

Abstract: This paper provides new evidence on the relationship between management practices and firm performance. We interviewed managers of 190 randomly selected manufacturing plants in the UK and matched their responses with official business microdata. We find that climate friendly management practices are associated with lower energy intensity and higher productivity. Firms that adopt more such practices also conduct more climate friendly R&D which will sustain future growth in energy efficiency. Our findings are akin to the “energy efficiency paradox” and highlight the linkages between particular management practices and firm-level energy efficiency. We also find a strong empirical link between climate friendly management practices and organizational structure. Firms are more likely to adopt such practices if climate change issues are managed by the environmental or energy manager, and if this manager is close to the CEO. Adoption is less likely when the CEO is in charge of climate change issues.

Keywords: Climate policy; Energy efficiency; Firm behavior; Management practices; Manufacturing; Microdata; Organizational structure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (95)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Anatomy of a Paradox: Management Practices, Organisational Structure and Energy Efficiency (2010)
Working Paper: Anatomy of a paradox: management practices, organisational structure and energy efficiency (2010)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:63:y:2012:i:2:p:208-223

DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2011.08.003

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