Environmental Management and Innovation in Argentine Industry

The report analyzes 716 Argentine manufacturing firms to determine what drives the adoption and quality of environmental management activities (EMAs). It finds that larger firms and those with higher spending on technology acquisition are more likely to implement higher-quality EMAs. While environmental regulatory pressure stimulates innovative behavior, it tends to induce 'end-of-pipe' management rather than 'clean production' strategies. Foreign firms are more prone to undertake EMAs than domestic firms, but foreign ownership is associated with lower EMA quality. However, positive environmental spill-overs from foreign firms occur in domestic firms that possess high absorption capabilities, leading them toward 'simple clean production' management.

• Firm size and expenditures on technology acquisition are significant positive determinants for both the probability of undertaking environmental management activities (EMAs) and the quality of those activities.
• Environmental regulatory pressure stimulates innovation in manufacturing firms, increasing the probability of innovating by 20%.
• While regulatory pressure encourages EMAs, it tends to promote 'end-of-pipe' (EOP) management over 'simple clean production' (CP) management.
• Foreign firms are more likely to engage in EMAs than domestic firms, but foreign ownership is linked to a decrease in the quality of those activities, making EOP and simple CP more likely than complex CP.
• Positive environmental spill-overs from foreign firms to domestic firms are conditional on the domestic firms' absorption capabilities; specifically, they induce simple CP management in firms with high absorption capabilities.
• In-house research and development (R&D) intensity was not found to be a statistically significant determinant in the probability or quality of EMAs, whereas technology acquisition was.
• Motivations to improve a firm's environmental image (market pressure) enhance the quality of environmental management by increasing the likelihood of complex CP over simple CP and EOP.

APA

Chudnovsky, D., Pupato, G., & Gutman, V. (2005). Environmental Management and Innovation in Argentine Industry. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/tkn_environ_argentina.pdf

Chicago

Chudnovsky, Daniel, Germán Pupato, and Verónica Gutman. Environmental Management and Innovation in Argentine Industry. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2005. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/tkn_environ_argentina.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Chudnovsky |first1=Daniel |last2=Pupato |first2=Germán |last3=Gutman |first3=Verónica |title=Environmental Management and Innovation in Argentine Industry |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=December 2005 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/tkn_environ_argentina.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{chudnovsky2005environmental, author = {Chudnovsky, Daniel and Pupato, Germán and Gutman, Verónica}, title = {{Environmental Management and Innovation in Argentine Industry}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2005}, month = dec, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/tkn_environ_argentina.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }