Why does the diffusion of environmental management standards differ across countries? The role of formal and informal institutions in the adoption of ISO 14001

Raquel Orcos, Beatriz Pérez-Aradros and Knut Blind

Journal of World Business, 2018, vol. 53, issue 6, 850-861

Abstract: This research explores the factors underpinning the international diffusion of environmental management standards (EMSs), focusing on how macro-level institutions explain differences in the extent to which ISO 14001 has penetrated into each country. We argue that macro-level institutions affect the diffusion of ISO 14001 by shaping both how managers assess it and the pressures that stakeholders exert on firms to adopt it. Our results, based on a sample of 49 countries between 2000 and 2014, show that informal and formal institutions, namely, uncertainty avoidance and market-supporting institutions, contribute to explaining cross-country variations in the number of firms implementing ISO 14001.

Keywords: Environmental management standards (EMSs); ISO 14001; International diffusion; Uncertainty avoidance; Market-supporting institutions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (23)

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DOI: 10.1016/j.jwb.2018.07.002

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