Green Investment by Firms: Finance or Climate Driven?

By Fotios Kalantzis (EIB), Helena Schweiger (EBRD), Sofia Dominguez (UNCTAD)

There is limited research on the determinants of firms’ green investment strategies in developing regions despite their importance to meet global climate change targets. Understanding how changes in firm climate investment affect environmental performance is essential for policy makers and firms alike. Based on unique data from the joint European Bank for Reconstruction and Development–European Investment Bank–World Bank Group Enterprise Surveys, this paper empirically examines the role of access to finance and green management practices in firms’ green investment strategies. Based on logistic regressions, the econometric analysis finds a positive influence of green management practices on the number of mitigation measures implemented. By contrast, firms that are financially constrained are less likely to pursue many mitigation measures. Finally, the results do not show significant differences in the impact of financial constraints on the type of green investment, but indicate that better green management practices lead to a higher likelihood of investing in both capital- and non-capital-intensive green measures.READ PAPER