Why European Entrepreneurs in the Water and Waste Management Sector Are Willing to Go beyond Environmental Legislation
Keywords
ÖkologieWirtschaft
Ecology
Economics
water sector; SMEs; environmental responsibility; drivers
Ökologie und Umwelt
Management
Ecology, Environment
Management Science
Wasserwirtschaft
Nachhaltigkeit
Europa
Gesetzgebung
Rechtsvorschrift
Umweltrecht
Kleinbetrieb
Mittelbetrieb
Abfallwirtschaft
Wasser
Corporate Social Responsibility
Umweltmanagement
Eurobarometer
Umweltverhalten
Unternehmensführung
water management
sustainability
Europe
legislation
legal provision
environmental law
small business
medium-sized firm
waste management
water
corporate social responibility
environmental management
Eurobarometer
environmental behavior
business management
Full record
Show full item recordAbstract
Sustainability in the water sector in Europe is a major concern, and compliance with the current legislation alone does not seem to be enough to face major challenges like climate change or population growth and concentration. The greatest potential for improvement appears when companies decide to take a step forward and go beyond environmental legislation. This study focuses on the environmental responsibility (ER) of European small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the water and waste management sector and analyzes the drivers that lead these firms to the adoption of more sustainable practices. Our results show that up to 40% of European SMEs within this industry display environmental responsibility. Market pull has a low incidence in encouraging ER, while values and the strategic decisions of entrepreneurs seem decisive. Policy makers should prioritize subsidies over fiscal incentives because they show greater potential to promote the adoption of environmental responsibility among these firms.Date
2019-03-14Type
ZeitschriftenartikelIdentifier
oai:gesis.izsoz.de:document/617722073-4441
https://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/handle/document/61772
https://doi.org/10.3390/w9030151
Copyright/License
Creative Commons - Namensnennung 4.0Collections
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