Beliefs Matter: Local Climate Concerns and Industrial Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the United States

Glen Dowell () and Thomas Lyon ()
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Glen Dowell: SC Johnson College of Business
Thomas Lyon: University of Michigan

Journal of Business Ethics, 2024, vol. 194, issue 3, No 7, 609-632

Abstract: Abstract Industrial emissions of greenhouse gases are significant contributors to climate change, which poses a grave threat to social and economic systems. Our understanding of what might drive firms to reduce their emissions of these gases, however, is incomplete, and it is not clear that the knowledge gained from other environmental issues will readily apply to these emissions. We argue and find that indicators of environmental injustice previously shown to relate to toxic pollutants, for example, are poor predictors of greenhouse gas emissions. Instead, we show that the degree of belief in and concern about climate change in a local community is a significant predictor of the facility’s rate of emission improvements. Furthermore, we find that beliefs at both the facility and headquarter communities influence emission reduction, and that those effects are substitutes for each other.

Keywords: Greenhouse gas emissions; Climate beliefs; Community norms; Corporate structure; Environmental strategy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1007/s10551-024-05619-w

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