International business is contributing to environmental crises

Haitao Yu, Pratima Bansal and Diane-Laure Arjaliès
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Haitao Yu: LEM - Lille économie management - UMR 9221 - UA - Université d'Artois - UCL - Université catholique de Lille - Université de Lille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Pratima Bansal: UWO - University of Western Ontario
Diane-Laure Arjaliès: UWO - University of Western Ontario

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Abstract: All business contributes to environmental crises because of its focus on profit. We argue that international business (IB) contributes more than its fair share. IB's focus on cross-border arbitrage has led to the over-extraction of natural resources and the accumulation of waste. This is a problem, because natural resources are limited in quantity and embedded in their local environment. It is time for IB researchers to step up and substantially and meaningfully address IB's contribution to environmental crises by embracing the principles of natural systems processes within its core assumptions and improving its theorizing of natural resources. In this paper, we take a step forward in this direction by revisiting and refining the theoretical dimensions of country-specific advantages (CSAs) and firm-specific advantages (FSAs) to recognize natural resources more explicitly. We propose three natural resource-based strategies for multinational enterprises (MNEs): reducing, replacing, and regenerating. This article offers a new theoretical perspective to understand how IB can create value and steward the natural environment, contributing to the sustainability of business, society, and the planet.

Keywords: Multinational Corporations (MNCs) and Enterprises (MNEs); Business and the Environment; Firm-Specific Advantages; Natural Resources; Country-Specific Advantages; Sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023-08
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Published in Journal of International Business Studies, 2023, 54 (6), pp.1151-1169. ⟨10.1057/s41267-022-00590-y⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04286281

DOI: 10.1057/s41267-022-00590-y

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