Journal of International Management: Dirk Holtbrügge, Corinna Dögl

Journal of International Management 18 (2012) 180–195
Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect
Journal of International Management
How international is corporate environmental responsibility?

A literature review
Dirk Holtbrügge ⁎, Corinna Dögl 1
University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Department of International Management, Nürnberg, 90403, Germany
a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article history: In this paper we explore the current state of research on international aspects of corporate
Received 29 April 2011 environmental responsibility (CER). A Literature review of approximately 10,200 articles in
Received in revised form 9 February 2012 leading management journals published between 1997 and 2010 reveals 54 studies that deal
Accepted 10 February 2012
explicitly with CER. We provide answers regarding the emphasis, geographic focus, research
Available online 21 March 2012
methods, theoretical focus, industries covered by CER research, and primary study content.
We find that although environmental aspects of management are often international by
Keywords: their very nature, CER research does not have many international links as significantly more
Environmental responsibility
single- than multi-country studies exist. We also derive several implications for the internation-
CER
alization of future CER research. Future studies should further investigate cross-country effects
Literature review
Business and the environment and focus on the transferability of CER practices across boarders.
© 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
The concept of corporate responsibility (CR) is well established in international management literature and has a social and an
environmental aspect (Egri and Ralston, 2008). According to Matten and Moon (2008), CR means all clearly oriented and communicated
policies and practices of firms that reflect business responsibility for some of the wider societal and ecological good. Significant changes in
global climate and environmental conditions result in a growing public awareness of the second element of CR, making corporate
environmental responsibility (CER) an important topic for both the business world and academic literature (Gunningham, 2009; Hart,
1995; Starik and Rands, 1995).
CER deals with a company's relationship with the environment. It contains the obligations of decision makers to take responsible
actions which aim to protect and improve the environment as a whole, and which are also in line with their own interests (Huckle,
1995). Gunningham (2009:215) defines CER as “practices that benefit the environment (or mitigate the adverse impact of business on
the environment) that go beyond those that companies are legally obliged to carry out” in line with the World Business Council for
Sustainable Development.
By its very nature, CER has several international dimensions. First, the ecological implications of business often cross national
borders. This applies to the extraction of national resources as well as carbon emissions. In particular, multinational corporations
(MNCs) are often accused of off-shoring waste-intensive value activities to pollution havens with lax environmental policy (Chen
et al., 2009; Hoffmann et al., 2005; Reimann et al., 2012; Wheeler, 2001). Second, there is a growing awareness in supra-national
organizations that global regulations are needed to reduce the ecological impact of business activities. A prominent example is the
United Nations Global Compact which asks companies to support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges, to undertake
⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: + 49 911 5302 465; fax: + 49 911 5302 470.
E-mail addresses: corinna.doegl@wiso.uni-erlangen.de (D. Holtbrügge), dirk.holtbruegge@wiso.uni-erlangen.de (C. Dögl).
1
Tel.: + 49 911 5302 242; fax: + 49 911 5302 470.
1075-4253/$ – see front matter © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.intman.2012.02.001
D. Holtbrügge, C. Dögl / Journal of International Management 18 (2012) 180–195 181
initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility, and to encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally
friendly technologies (http://www.unglobalcompact.org). And third, media and NGOs do not only try to pressure companies in
their home country to act ecologically, but also in other countries with lower ecological standards (Christmann, 2004; Doh
and Guay, 2004; Kolk and van Tulder, 2010). For example, Greenpeace forced Nestle to completely stop using Indonesian
palm oil in its food products, including their popular chocolate, after being confronted by the organization for destroying the
environment. The Indonesian forests were being destroyed by the increasing demand for the cheap resources and Greenpeace
began publically denouncing the large, international firm for participating in such grave business practices (Greenpeace, 2010; The
Economist, 2010).
The growing relevance of environmental issues in international business is our motivation for analyzing the impact that CER
has received in academic literature. We can find several studies that comprehensively deal with the current state of research
regarding Corporate Responsibility (CR) as an overall concept (Egri and Ralston, 2008; Lockett et al., 2006; Vaaland et al.,
2007). However, studies explicitly dealing with the environmental aspect of CR and its current state of research are rare. Apart
from that, researchers have already started to deal with CER from different perspectives as it has become a topic of growing concern
during the last few years (e.g., Boiral, 2007; Hart, 1995; Russo and Harrison, 2005). Therefore, we try to gain further understanding on
how present CER is in academic literature and develop a systematic overview of the current state of CER research. Our study focuses
exclusively on CER in peer-reviewed management journals and examines the impact of this research topic over a 13-year time period
from 1997 to 2009, comprehensively, allowing us to draw conclusions about past, present, and future developments in this special
research area. In particular, we seek to find answers to the question of how international CER research is and which implications
can be derived from it for international management.
In the first section of this paper, we define and present the research methodology and strategy to select the included management
journals as well as to identify the relevant journal articles that deal with CER. After coding these articles using various criteria, we
address the following research questions:
• What is the general level of emphasis on CER in management journals?

• How international is CER research and on which geographic regions do the presented articles focus?
• Are there differences between single-country and multi-country studies of CER?
• What is the general methodological background of the articles? Are they predominantly theoretical or empirical?
• Which theories are applied to analyze CER?
• Which industries are covered by CER research?
• What is the primary content of the relevant articles?
In the last section we give a summary of our findings, interpret the results, and conclude with implications for future academic
research of CER.
2. Methodology
2.1. Research approach
The goal of our study is to examine the prevalence of CER research in international management journals from 1997 to 2010
and to assess its implications for international management theory and practice. Starting with 1997, the year the Kyoto protocol
was initially adopted, and including all CER articles that were published until the end of 2010 when the Cancun Climate Change
Conference took place, ensures that the most relevant CER studies have been covered. The Kyoto protocol, aimed at fighting global
warming, was a milestone event in environmental protection and triggered a growing perception of environmental issues along
with increasing environmental responsibility (Brewer, 2008; Kolk, 2005). The Cancun Climate Change Conference encompassed a
14-year time span with the aim to provide a framework for climate change mitigation, causing an even faster growing recognition
of environmental problems and the ongoing consequences (UNFFC Reports, 2010). That allows us to outline how CER coverage
changed, which developments took place in that specific time period, and whether or not these particular events influenced
CER research.
To conduct our study, we applied a similar approach and methodology as that of Lockett et al. (2006) and Egri and Ralston
(2008), who examined the prevalence of CSR articles in seven core management journals and three practitioner-oriented journals
from 1992 – 2002 (Lockett et al., 2006), respectively, of CR research in 13 international management journals from 1998 – 2007
(Egri and Ralston, 2008). Both considered CER as only one aspect among others, next to social, ethical, stakeholder, and
governance aspects (Egri and Ralston, 2008). Lockett et al. (2006) revealed environmental concerns and ethics as one of the
most popular CR research issues combined with an increasing proportion of theoretical papers relative to empirical studies and
an overwhelming majority of quantitative studies. Egri and Ralston (2008) noticed an emphasis on ethics and governance
more than social and environmental concerns with empirical studies outnumbering theoretical studies with a focus on wealthy,
western countries. In addition, they did not observe any imbalance between quantitative and qualitative studies as revealed by
Lockett et al. (2006).
Having those differences in mind, as well as the fact that both studies consider environmental responsibility as only one aspect
among others, it is difficult to derive reliable and comprehensive results about CER. Therefore, our research approach focuses
exclusively on CER which allows us to adequately address the initial research questions.
182 D. Holtbrügge, C. Dögl / Journal of International Management 18 (2012) 180–195
2.2. Identiﬁcation and selection of relevant journals and articles
In order to identify relevant CER articles, we selected the academic management journals that we wanted to include in our
review and applied a similar methodology as Lockett et al. (2006) and Egri and Ralston (2008). We decided to use a sample of
peer-reviewed journals to cover the full range of CER research in the academic literature.
According to Lockett et al. (2006), we grounded the journal selection on the basis of their influence, as measured by the impact
factor published by the social science citation index (SSCI), and included all international management journals with an impact
factor higher than 1.500 in the year 2010. Focusing on peer–reviewed journals with high impact factors allowed us to reveal
the general acceptance of CER research, as addressed in the first research question, based on journals in which importance has
been previously proven. Journals with high impact factors attract articles of scholars with the highest reputation in the respective
research area (Haslam et al., 2008). Moreover, they reflect the current state-of-the-art in terms of theoretical foundation, analytical
rigor, and methodological soundness (Gulati, 2007).
Given our interest in examining the extent to which CER research is in mainstream management and business journals, we
excluded specialized journals publishing on environmental topics (e.g., Business Strategy and the Environment, Environmental
Management, Greener Management International). This procedure is consistent with Lockett et al. (2006) and Egri and Ralston
(2008) and allows us to compare our results with their literature reviews that focus on CSR articles.
The selection process ended with eight US–based management journals and four international management journals. Including
international management journals helped us to avoid a geographic bias due to predominantly US–based journals and to address
our research question more adequately. The US–based journals include: Administrative Science Quarterly (ASQ), Academy of
Management Journal (AMJ), Academy of Management Review (AMR), Management Science (MS), Organization Science (OSc), Strategic
Management Journal (SMJ), Journal of Management Studies (JMS), and Journal of Management (JM). The international journals consist
of: Journal of International Management (JIM), Journal of International Business Studies (JIBS), Journal of World Business (JWB), and
International Business Review (IBR).
We searched for CER articles in the aforementioned journals by applying the following eleven keywords: “environmental
responsibility”, “environment/-alism”, “environmental”, “nature/natural”, “green”, “ecology/ecological”, “sustainability”, “conser-
vation”,” pollution”, “emission”, and “climate”. We applied the same keywords as Lockett et al. (2006) and extended this list by
including “climate” and “emission” as additional keywords in order to ensure the identification of all relevant CER articles.
We used the Business Source Complete (EBSCO) online database for our keyword search and checked the keyword-matched
articles for their compliance with CER by reviewing titles, abstracts, and, as needed, further content of the paper. In accordance
with Egri and Ralston (2008) and Lockett et al. (2006), we excluded editorials, transcribed speeches, commentaries, interviews,
and insubstantial articles with less than five pages from our analysis. As a result of our database research we identified 54 articles
dealing with CER. In the following section we categorized the set of CER articles for further analysis and compared them to the
total number of articles published, which we counted in a similar way.
2.3. Coding and categorization of journal articles
We developed seven criteria for evaluation, reflecting our research goals and providing a framework to classify the selected
journal articles accordingly. When we began creating the categories for the retrieved articles, we kept Who, What, Where,
Why, and How questions at the front of our minds to develop comprehensive categories.
First, we coded articles by their geographic focus to assess the extent of internationalization: we identified the countries and
regions in the studies and outlined single- and multi-country studies. It was important to identify geographic regions covered to
assess the inclusion and exclusion of countries around the world and to be able to clearly identify regional focal points, if they
exist in the literature. Second, we examined the research method in each of the studies. We differentiated between theoretical
and empirical studies with a further classification of empirical studies into qualitative and quantitative methods. Our goal was
to differentiate between these research methods so that a proper and accurate conclusion could be drawn of what is applied to
this field of research. By differentiating in this manner, we aimed to answer questions about how CER research is conducted
and what forms of research, if any, are favored.
Next, we established five additional evaluation criteria to address our next research questions. The goal of further categorizing
the articles is to narrow down the retrieved material as much as possible without losing content to grasp an understanding for the
depth of CER research. We classified the selected articles according to the theoretical focus, industries covered by CER research,
and the primary contents (management variables, performance variables, and main findings). To ensure inter-rater reliability,
the retrieved articles were coded independently by the two authors. Afterward, the codings were compared for agreements
(Armstrong et al., 1997).
We intended to understand how (theoretical focus) CER research is being conducted and where (industry), in order to gain a
level of comprehensiveness in our study. Furthermore, we coded the articles by management variables, described as the activities
to reduce environmental impact, and performance variables, described as the effects of the company's activities on financial
performance, intangible assets, competitive advantages, and the natural environment. Through this division we were aiming to
find consistencies between the articles and research methods. Here, we hoped to identify possible motives for the research
that could offer an opportunity to draw conclusions about CER research. In addition, we outlined the main findings of each of
these articles to determine the primary content and to ensure further analysis of the respective findings. The results and conclusions
of each article help us to interpret our findings and to derive potential future research.
In the appendix we enclosed the detailed categorization of the 47 articles included in this review. The appendix provides an
overview about the established criteria and gives a summary of the findings and coding for each of the identified CER articles.
3. Results
3.1. Level of emphasis in management journals
We discovered 54 articles in the selected management journals that discuss CER, excluding overlapping matches. This number
makes up only 0.5% of all published articles in the twelve journals in the period between 1997 and 2011 (54 of approximately 10,200).
CER articles were widely present in AMJ with 17 articles, SMJ with 13 articles, and JMS with seven articles, accounting for 69%
(35 of 54) of all CER articles published (see Table 1). In general, the level of emphasis in US-based journals is significantly higher
than in international journals such as JIM, JIBS, JWB, and IBR. By distinguishing between multi-country (10 of 54) and single-
country (39 of 54) studies, the distribution across journals is similar. We find three multi-country studies in AMJ, two in JWB,
and one in IBR, JIBS, JIM, JMS, and MS.
Most of the relevant CER articles with 45 results were retrieved with the keyword “environmental” and “environment/-alism”. Be-
yond that, we identified only single articles with the keywords “nature”, “climate”, “ecology”, “sustainability”, “conservation”, and “pol-
lution". The keyword “green” retrieved three results with CER content. It is particularly interesting that there are no results for “CER” or
“Corporate Environmental Responsibility” as a search criterion. Obviously, this term is not yet as common as the related term CSR.
The number of articles per year is illustrated in Fig. 1. Beginning in 1997, there is only one article regarding CER, whereas between
1998 and 2000 there is the highest number of retrieved articles, totaling seven. The following years, 2001 to 2009, again showed only
one to five CER articles, averaging three articles per year, whereas in 2010 the number of CER articles increases again to seven.
Therefore, regarding the time period, our analysis exposed the number of CER articles shows an alternating course (Fig. 1).
We can conclude that there is neither an increasing nor decreasing emphasis on CER research in top management journals.
The US-based journals are dominating academic research and literature, whereas the international journals appear to put
lower emphasis on CER as a field of research.
3.2. Internationalization and geographic focus
According to the geographic focus as our second research question, the US is dominating as 59% of the articles (32 of 54) are
related to this country. Twenty percent focus on Canada (11 of 54) and another 20% target European countries (11 of 54). Euro-
pean countries highlighted in the reviewed studies are Spain (3 articles), the UK (2), Germany (2), Hungary (2), Belgium (1),
France (1), Norway (1), and Europe in general (2) (Fig. 2).
Table 1
Journal/author/year of publication.
Journal Author Year Journal Author Year
AMJ Andersson & Bateman 2000 JMS Chen 2005

AMJ Aragón -Correa 1998 JMS Darnell, Henriques & Sadorsky 2010
AMJ Aragon-Correa and Sharma, 2003 2000 JMS Jiang & Bansal 2003
AMJ Bansal & Roth 2004 JMS Judge & Douglas 1998
AMJ Bansal &Clelland 2005 JMS Prasad & Elmes 2005
AMJ Berrone & Gomez-Mejia 2007 JMS Schaefer 2007
AMJ Christman 2000 JWB Rugman & Kirton 1998
AMJ Christman 2004 JWB Chan 2010
AMJ Henriques & Sadorsky 1999 JWB Martin-Tapia, Arragon-Correa & Rueda-Manzanares 2010
AMJ Hoffman 1999 JWB Marshall, Akoorie, Hamann & Sinha 2010
AMJ Kassinis & Vafeas 2006 MS Dowell, Hart & Yeung 2000
AMJ Klassen & Whybark 1999 MS King & Lenox 2002
AMJ Madsen 2009 Osc Boiral 2007
AMJ Russo & Fouts 1997 Osc Howard-Grenville 2007
AMJ Russo & Harrison 2005 SMJ Bansal 2009
AMJ Sharma 2000 SMJ Branzei, Ursacki-Bryant, Vertinsky & Weijong 2004
AMJ Starik & Marcus 2000 SMJ Buysse & Verbeke 2003
AMR Newton 2002 SMJ Delmas & Monte-Sancho 2007
ASQ Berrone, Gomez-Mejia & Larraza-Kintana 2010 SMJ Delmas & Toffel 2008
IBR Pinske, Kuss & Hoffmann 2010 SMJ King & Shaver 2001
JIBS Christmann & Taylor 2001 SMJ McGee 1998
JIBS Rugman & Verbeke 1998 SMJ Murillo-Luna & Garcés-Ayerbe 2008
JIM Amine 2003 SMJ Reid & Toffel 2009
JIM Darnell, Henriques & Sadorsky 2008 SMJ Rugman & Verbeke 1998
JM Gilley, Worrell & El-Jelly 2000 SMJ Sharma & Vredenburg 1998
JM Etzion 2007 SMJ Sharma & Henriques 2005
JMS Chan 2001
number of CER
6
articles
4
0
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Fig. 1. Number of CER articles in time horizon (1997–2010).
The majority of articles are single-country studies (39 of 54), ten articles exhibit a multi-country perspective, and five articles
have no explicit geographic focus. No study with a geographic focus on Africa or Latin America was found.
Interestingly, only 7% of the articles focus on China (4 of 54), which is the only emerging market represented in the study; a
further three articles are focused on Japan. Thus, our results show that Asian countries are relatively ignored in CER research
despite their growing relevance in the world economy and massive environmental problems which can be observed in these
countries (Branzei et al., 2004; Lo et al., 2008).
Studying the geographic focus with reference to the time period, our results reveal that CER-related articles about developed countries
and regions like the USA, Canada, and Europe, were published from 1997 on, with the highest numbers between 1997 and 1999. Up until
2000 there are no studies focusing exclusively on developing countries, as the first studies dealing with China only appeared in 2001.
3.3. Research methods
For our third research question, we examined the research methods that are applied in identified studies. We distinguish
between theoretical and empirical studies, with the latter subdivided into quantitative and qualitative studies.
Our results show a clear majority of empirical studies with 89% (48 of 54). The larger part, with 71% (34 of 48), is quantitative,
whereas only 29% (14 of 48) are qualitative studies. Theoretical studies account for only 11% (6 of 54) (Fig. 3). This result is in
contrast to the study of Lockett et al. (2006), which reveals an almost equal balance between empirical and theoretical articles
in CSR, and similar to Egri and Ralston (2008), who identify 45 empirical and 17 theoretical studies dealing with CER.
Most quantitative studies are questionnaire surveys; the qualitative studies were conducted mostly through interviews. The
theoretical articles typically contain either a commentary or a case study.
By analyzing the geographic focus, we examined that almost all US studies were based on quantitative methods. Only three
US-focused articles applied theoretical approaches. For the China-focused articles, quantitative studies also dominate the CER
research. One of the three China-related articles used qualitative methods, while the other three use quantitative studies. Moreover,
we see that three theoretical studies (Amine, 2003; Howard-Grenville, 2007; McGee, 1998) contain a specific geographic focus (USA),
whereas the others are not concentrated on a specific region.
The quantitative studies were apparent during the entire defined time period. More specifically, in 2008 and 2009, only
quantitative studies were published, whereas qualitative studies were more present between 2000 and 2007. In 2010 this
trend continues: six quantitative and only one qualitative study were published. The reviewed theoretical studies were spread
out over the observed time period and appeared in the years 1998, 2002, 2003, 2005, and 2007.
3.4. Theoretical focus of CER research
Our analysis reveals that CER is mostly analyzed from the perspective of the resource-based view (RBV) and the institutional
theory. Thirty-five percent (19 of 54) follow the institutional theory as the major theory, and 33% (18 of 54) are based on the RBV.
From the perspective of institutional theory, the social context in which firms operate is crucial for CER. Institutions include, for
example, competitors, customers, the government, and the media (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983). According to empirical studies
based on this perspective, firms that perceive higher institutional pressure from the market are more likely to adopt environmental
35 32
number of articles
30
25
20
15 11
10 5
5 3 3 2 3 2 2 2 1 1 1
0
Fig. 2. Geographic focus of CER articles.

theoretical
6 (11%)
qualitative
14 (29%) 34 (71%)
quantitative
Fig. 3. Research methods (in total numbers).
management standards such as ISO 14001, while pressure from non-market institutions led to the adoption of government-initiated
voluntary programs (Delmas and Toffel, 2008). Additionally, Schäfer (2007) sees institutional pressures as main drivers for
implementing environmental management systems. Moreover, he states that conforming to institutional pressures leads to a better
economic performance. Surprisingly, none of the studies based on institutional theory follow a comparative perspective, although this
theory is frequently applied in international and cross-country management research.
In the context of CER, the RBV argues that a firm's sustainable competitive advantage depends on its resources and capabilities
(e.g., Barney, 1991; Grant, 1991). Firms can achieve competitive advantage and at the same time reduce their environmental
impact on the natural environment by developing valuable firm capabilities, such as continuous innovation, stakeholder integration,
and organizational learning, combined with a proactive environmental strategy, e.g., implementing certain environmental best
practices (Hart, 1995). According to Aragon-Correa (1998), the relationship between those capabilities of a proactive environmental
strategy and competitive advantage is the strongest in an uncertain, complex, and munificent business environment. Moreover, King
and Lenox (2002) reveal that investments into resources that reduce the negative ecological consequences of business operations
often provide unexpected innovation offsets. Among the studies that are based on the RBV, only Dowell et al. (2000) exhibit an
international perspective. They reveal that countries with lax environmental standards find it more difficult to attract competitive
companies than those where environmental standards are strict.
Two articles (Bansal, 2005; Darnall et al., 2008) are based on both RBV and institutional theory. In addition to these two
dominant theories, eleven additional theories were applied, including stakeholder theory, agency theory, and resource dependency
theory. These theories appear in 33% of all articles (18 of 54), combined with RBV or institutional theory in 8 of these 18 cases.
Furthermore, 8% (7 of 54) of all articles are not explicitly based on a theoretical framework (Fig. 4).
Interestingly, there is a lack of studies that are based on core theories of international management, such as Dunning's eclectic
theory of international production or the integration-responsiveness framework of Prahalad and Doz. We would have expected
the application of these theories, particularly in multi-country studies. As in single-country studies, however, they are mostly
based on the RBV, thus lacking a comprehensive international perspective.
3.5. Industries covered by CER research
We found that 69% of the total numbers of articles (37 of 54) focus on cross-industry analyses, having at least two different industries
in the sample. Only 28% (15 of 54) analyze CER within a single industry, and 4% (2 of 54) have no special industry focus (Fig. 5).
In total, 15 different industries have been researched within the scope of the retrieved articles, including chemicals, high tech,
paper, furniture, automotive, electronics, water and sewerage, oil and gas, forestry, mining, primary metals, transportation equip-
ment, electric utility, food retail, and the wine industry. The overwhelming majority of articles deal with manufacturing industries,
20 19 18
15
12
9
10
7
0
Institutional RBV Stakeholder Other theories None
Theory Theory
Fig. 4. Theoretical focus of CER research.

especially with heavily polluting (chemicals, oil and gas), environmentally affecting (mining, forestry), or globally apparent industries
(automotive, electronics) (e.g., Bansal and Clelland, 2004; Bansal and Roth, 2000; Berrone and Gomez-Mejia, 2009; Christmann,
2000). In the appendix, a detailed analysis of the covered industries is provided.
3.6. Primary contents
In a last step, we looked at management and performance variables that are included in the studies. Management variables are
defined as the technical and organizational activities undertaken by a firm for the purpose of reducing environmental impacts and
minimizing their effects on the natural environment. Performance variables are the output of management variables effecting a
firm's activities and products on the natural environment (Molina-Azorin et al., 2009).
We examined a broad and diverse sample of management variables within the reviewed studies. Examples are pollution
prevention and control, energy and waste management, product innovations and efficiency, compliance and regulations, as
well as commitments and environmental goals. However, we found consistencies within three main categories of management
variables, which are discussed across the entire set of articles, namely compliance, policies and regulations, and green product
and process developments. Compliance regarding environmental strategies, practices, and means of reducing pollution appear
in 57% of the studies (31 of 54). Environmental standards and management systems as representatives of policies and regulations
are found in 35% of the studies (19 of 54), whereas process and product driven initiatives, such as clean technologies, green products,
and environmental R&D, relate to 28% of all articles (15 of 54) (see Appendix A).
With regard to the performance measurement of CER activities, the three most commonly employed variables, namely
environmental, financial, and non-financial performance, are consistently applied within the reviewed literature. Environmental
performance variables including input and output measures, for example, resource consumption, toxic emissions, and industrial
pollution (Molina-Azorin et al., 2009), are found in 48% of all selected articles (26 of 54). Thirty-seven percent of all articles (20 of
54) consider financial performance variables, such as the impact of environmental activities on Return on Investment (ROI), Re-
turn on Sales (ROS), stock market prices, or revenues, compared to 17% (9 of 54), which base performance measurement mainly
on non-financial variables and intangible benefits such as reputation, brand image, social legitimacy, and stakeholder satisfaction.
The appendix provides a consolidated overview about the presented findings. Interestingly, multi-country studies often do not
include explicit performance measures.
Several studies rely on two or more different performance measures. Environmental and financial measures, for example, are in many
cases applied together to demonstrate the advantages of environmental activities twofold—in ecological and economic terms—as well as
to prove the interrelation between the two. Thus, a combination of two or more variables allows for a more comprehensive analysis and
understanding of consequences and outcomes of CER practices and enables researchers to draw more appropriate conclusions.
Despite the great diversity of relationships that are analyzed, we found some consistencies within the reviewed studies. First,
effects on managerial strategy, which revolve around costs, innovation, and market share rewards, stem mainly from external
regulatory pressures (e.g., Boiral, 2007; Branzei et al., 2004; Chen, 2001; Delmas and Toffel, 2008; Hoffman, 1999; King and
Shaver, 2001; Schäfer, 2007). Punishment has a greater impact than rewards when dealing with environmental responsibility.
Companies are more likely to adopt environmental practices if they are forced to. For example, King and Shaver (2001) found
that companies in highly regulated countries have the tendency to behave environmentally responsibly and avoid pollution.
Delmas and Toffel (2008) state that institutional pressures lead to the adoption of different environmental management practices,
e.g., ISO certificates and EMSs. Second, intangible benefits outside of financial performance gain increasing importance when dealing
with environmental practices. A growing number of studies take them into consideration (e.g., Amine, 2003; Aragon-Correa, 1998;
no industry
focus
2
(4%)
within one
industry
15 (28%)
37 (69%)
cross-industry
Fig. 5. CER industry analysis (in percentage).

Bansal, 2005; Bansal and Clelland, 2004; Berrone and Gomez-Mejia, 2009; Christmann, 2004; Kassinis and Vafeas, 2006; King and
Shaver, 2001; Reid and Toffel, 2009; Russo and Harrison, 2005; Sharma, 2000; Sharma and Henriques, 2005). Third, stakeholder
pressures and responses do not always reflect returns on stock and financial performance (e.g., Murillo-Luna et al., 2008). In general,
there are conflicting results regarding the impact of adopting environmental practices on a firm's financial and competitive position.
Even the consequences for the natural environment are not yet completely clarified.
4. Discussion
As a key result of our literature review we can summarize that the degree of CER emphasis in the top-level journals appears
to be weak compared to the high relevance of this topic in public discourse. This result is in accordance with Egri and Ralston
(2008) who identified only 62 out of 321 CSR articles in top tier journals between 1998 and 2007 that deal explicitly with
CER. An explanation may be that there are many CSR experts at universities and other research institutes. However, for CER,
which is more interdisciplinary and includes technical, social, as well as economic aspects, few academic experts exist. The interdis-
ciplinary nature of CER may also exacerbate the access to firms for researchers in order to conduct comprehensive empirical studies.
Moreover, very few departments in business schools focus explicitly on CER. Therefore, incentives in focusing on CER may be low. CER
is also more focused than the broader concept of CR, which reduces the number of articles. Furthermore, the publication policy of
leading management journals may explain the low relevance of CER. Articles in these journals are mostly addressed to managers
and organizations rather than to other interest groups, such as policy makers, employees, or NGOs (Bartunek and Rynes, 2010). Accord-
ingly, nonmonetary aspects and relatively new topics, such as CER, are emphasized far less in leading management journals than topics
that are more clearly rooted in a particular management discipline and are closely related to financial performance (Kothar and Lahiri,
2012; Walsh et al., 2003).
Another result of our literature review is that the geographic focus of previous studies is skewed and does not comprehen-
sively represent the international and national business environment. The majority of countries represented in CER research are
developed countries. North America makes up 70% of the focus in CER articles and Europe comprised 21%, whereas just 6% deal
with China as the only emerging market in our review (multi-country studies not regarded). One explanation may be that re-
searchers are seeking established firms in established industries for studies that may exclude firms from emerging markets.
Moreover, western-based journals may focus on countries that are more familiar, closer, and easier to access. Additionally,
the importance of emerging markets began to increase only a few years ago and those countries were not relevant for re-
searchers in 1997 (e.g., Luo et al., 2011).
It is also remarkable that most previous studies focus on heavily polluting and environmentally affecting industries. In
contrast, environmentally friendly industries, such as renewable energy and electric mobility, are not covered by the studies
in our literature review. It can be expected that the growing interest in these industries will also lead to a shift in the geographic
focus toward emerging markets such as China and India. These countries have huge public-sector spending on environmentally
friendly technology, which further push the increasing relevance of CER in these markets (Dögl et al., 2012). For example, four
out of the top ten wind turbine manufacturers worldwide are from China (Sinovel, Goldwind, Dongfang) and India (Suzlon) in
2009 (REN21, 2010).
With regard to the international aspects of CER research, our study shows a prevalence of single-country studies while multi-
country studies are largely underrepresented. Despite their low numbers, however, multi-country studies offer interesting in-
sights into the transferability of CER results across borders and enhance our understanding of CER in a global context. For exam-
ple, Darnall et al. (2008) find that the export orientation of firms is positively related to the adoption of environmental
management systems in four OECD countries. Another finding is the need of stringent environmental regulations in developed
as well as in emerging countries. In emerging countries, stringent environmental regulations lead to an increase of foreign direct
investment (FDI) of competitive firms which helps to further push the development of environmental friendly technology
(Dowell et al., 2000). Furthermore, developed countries benefit from stable and strict environmental regulations (Rugman
and Kirton, 1998; Rugman and Verbeke, 1998b). These findings are also consistent with Madsen (2009) who states that the re-
lationship between environmental regulations and investments is more complex than the ‘pollution haven’ thesis would sug-
gest. Environmental degradation might be successful for developing countries in the short-term but has negative impacts in
the long-term, as also developing countries increase their concern for environmental preservation.
The main conclusions of the articles revolve around the effects on managerial strategy, which focuses on financial performance,
innovation, and market share rewards that stem from external regulatory pressure (e.g., Buysee and Verbeke, 2003; Christmann
and Taylor, 2001; Delmas and Toffel, 2008; Jiang and Bansal, 2003). The financial performance and competitive position of a firm,
from the conclusions of the articles, are more important than the carbon footprint that is left by the company. We can assume that
firms are more concerned with creating financially viable processes for themselves and have less regard for the actual environment
that may be affected by their operations. The most persuasive force for change comes from the financial incentives that a company
may reap from implemented CER practices.
With regard to the theoretical foundations of previous research, the RBV and institutional theory were consistently used in the ma-
jority of the articles. However, these two approaches have limitations as they cannot comprehensively explain the decisions for and con-
sequences of CER. For example, little is known about the behavioral aspects of CER, e.g., how managers are motivated to include ecological
issues into their decision-making (e.g., Eiadat et al., 2008; Lynes and Andrachuk, 2008). Furthermore, the organizational aspects of CER
are rather unexplored. Finally, given the interdisciplinary nature of CER, the dominance of management-related theories is significant.
188
Appendix A. Categorization of articles
Study Geographic Research Industry focus Theoretical Management Performance Main findings
focus method framework variables variables
Amine (2003) USA Theoretical Cross-industry Institutional theory – – Importance of individual responsibility, consumer's and
manager's actions underlined. ‘Not easy being green’,
either for consumers, activists, corporate leaders,
managers or public policy makers.
Andersson and USA Quantitative Cross-industry (164 – Green products and Financial Top management attention, top management action,
Bateman (2000) (field study environmental champions in process performance champion perception.
based on survey business organizations) developments
D. Holtbrügge, C. Dögl / Journal of International Management 18 (2012) 180–195

and interview
data)
Aragon-Correa Spain Quantitative Cross-industry (105 Resource-based Compliance Environmental Firms with most proactive business strategies employed
(1998) (survey companies) view performance both traditional corrective and modern preventive
questionnaire) natural environmental approaches. Firm size has major
impact on corrective approaches, but none on
preventive approaches.
Aragon-Correa and – Qualitative Cross-industry Resource-based Compliance Environmental The general business environment (uncertainty,
Sharma (2003) view and performance, complexity, munificence) moderates the relationship
contingency theory financial between dynamic capabilities of a proactive
performance, non- environmental strategy, competitive advantage strategy
financial and competitive advantage.
performance
Bansal and Roth UK, Japan Qualitative Cross-industry (53 firms: – Policies and Financial Three motivations that induce CER, influenced by three
(2000) study (case food retailer, auto regulations, green performance, non- contextual conditions.
study analysis) manufacturer, oil firms, P&O products and financial
subsidiaries ) process performance
developments
Bansal and Clelland USA Quantitative Cross-industry (100 firms in Institutional theory Policies and Environmental Firms perceived as environmentally illegitimate will
(2004) (regression 5 manufacturing sectors: regulation, green performance experience higher unsystematic stock market risk.
analysis) paper, chemicals, oil, primary products and
metals, transport equipment) process
developments
Bansal (2005) Canada Qualitative Cross-industry (45 firms: gas, Resource-based Compliance Non-financial Institutional pressure can be of declining importance.
oil, mining, forestry) view and performance resource-based and institutional factors influence cor-
institutional theory porate sustainable development.
Berrone and USA Quantitative Cross-industry (469 publicly Institutional theory Compliance Financial Financial performance, intangible benefits (social
Gomez-Mejia (2009) traded firms from polluting and agency theory performance, non- legitimacy, reputation, stakeholder satisfaction),
industries) financial executive pay.
performance
Berrone et al. (2010) USA Quantitative Cross-industry (194 family Institutional theory Compliance, Environmental Family-controlled public firms protect their socio-
and nonfamily pubic firms) policies, and performance, emotional wealth by having a better environmental
regulations financial performance than their nonfamily counterparts. For the
performance nonfamily firms, stock ownership by the CEO has a
negative environmental impact.
Boiral (2007) Canada Qualitative Cross-industry Institutional theory Policies and Environmental Most of the respondents had a positive and even
(interview) and stakeholder regulations performance enthusiastic attitude about the advantages of being
theory certified.
Branzei et al. (2004) China Cross-industry (360 firms) Institutional theory Compliance Environmental For Chinese firms, top down influences were stronger
performance than the bottom up effects in the early stages of green
Appendix A (continued)
Quantitative strategy formation. Chinese firms had abysmal

(questionnaire, environmental performance.
survey)
Buysee and Verbeke Belgium Quantitative Cross-industry (197 firms) Resource-based Compliance, green Financial Effective environmental management requires
(2003) (survey) view and products and performance identifying important stakeholders, who are related to
stakeholder theory process the development of green competencies, perceptions of
developments polluting firms operating in a small, open economy
specialized in producing intermediary goods and may
not be producing intermediary goods and may not be
able to generalize into larger economic systems.
Chan (2005) China Qualitative Cross-industry (foreign Resource-based Green products and Environmental Positive influence of firm specific resources and
(conceptual companies operating in view process performance, corporate and financial performance.
model, survey) China) developments financial
performance

Chan (2010) China Quantiative Cross-industry (230 foreign Institutional theory Compliance Financial Internal environmental orientation positively influences
(survey) invested enterprises) and stakeholder performane, environmental corporate (but not marketing)
theory environmental strategies; external environmental orientation
performance positively influences both. These two types of
environmental strategy are, in turn, found to positively
affect firm performance.
Chen (2001) – Theoretical Cross-industry – Green products and – Green product development and stricter environmental
process standards might not benefit the environment.
developments Regulations should both benign environmental
innovations and ensure environmental quality, call for
green products is an opportunity not a threat for firms.
Christmann (2000) USA Quantitative Intra-industry (88 chemical Resource-based Compliance Financial Process innovation shows relations between best
(questionnaire) companies (MNCs), 512 view performance practices and cost advantages.
business units)
Christmann and China Quantitative Cross-industry (118 Chinese Strategic network Policies and Environmental Globalization doesn't have the negative effect suggested
Taylor (2001) (survey) firms) theory regulations performance in developing countries by the pollution-haven and
industrial-flight hypotheses. Developing country firms
take more responsibility to appease customer and insti-
tutional pressures.
Christmann (2004) USA Quantitative Intra-industry (88 MNCs in Stakeholder theory Policies and Environmental Nature of stakeholder demands affects firms’ responses
(survey) the chemical industry) regulations performance to stakeholder pressures.
Darnall et al. (2008) Canada, Quantitative Intra-industry Institutional theory Policies and Financial Facilities that are motivated to adopt more
Germany, (survey) (manufacturing firms) and resource-based regulations, green performance comprehensive EMSs because of their complementary
Hungary view products and resources and capabilities (as opposed to institutional
USA process pressures) receive greater business performance.
developments
Darnall et al. (2010) USA, Canada, Quantitative Cross-industry (907 Stakeholder theory Compliance, Financial Contribution to the development of stakeholder theory
France, (survey) manufacturing firms) policies and performance by deriving a size moderated stakeholder model and
Germany, regulation, green applying it to a firm's adoption of proactive
Hungary, products and environmental practices.
Norway) process
development
Delmas and USA Quantitative Cross-industry Institutional theory Compliance Environmental Adopted different types of cooperative behavior.
Montes-Sancho (2007) performance Different institutional pressures and political
pressure.
Delmas and USA Quantitative Cross-industry (83 firms) Institutional theory, Compliance, Environmental Early Joiners (firms participating in the Climate
Montes-Sancho (2010) (different data corporate political policies and, performance Challenge program (1995–2000)) were subjected to
bases) strategy theory regulation, green higher levels of political pressure at the state level and
(continued on next page)
189
190
products and were more dependent on local and federal regulatory

process agencies than late joiners were.
development
Delmas and Toffel USA Quantitative Cross-industry (different Institutional theory Policies and Environmental Empirical survey supports institutional pressures for
(2008) (survey) corporate departments) regulations performance, adopting management practices e.g., corporate legal
financial departments. Firms located in different states face
performance different institutional pressures.
Dowell et al. (2000) USA, Qualitative Cross-industry Resource-based Policies and Environmental Firms adopting single stringent global environmental
emerging (manufacturing and mining) view regulations performance, standards have much higher market values than firms
markets financial defaulting to less stringent host country standards.

(multi performance Developing countries with lax standards may attract less
country competitive firms.
study)
Etzion (2007) – Literature – – – – Firm level attributes have a direct influence on a firm´s
review environmental performance.
Gilley et al. (2000) USA Quantitative Cross-industry Resource-based Green products and Financial Contrary to the hypothesis that shareholders react
(event study (manufacturing and service view process performance, non- positively to announced environmental initiatives, there
analysis) industry, 16 different developments financial is no overall effect of them on stock returns.
industries) performance
Henriques and Sadorsky Canada Quantitative Cross-industry (400 firms Stakeholder theory Compliance – Firms with more proactive profiles differ from less
(1999) from 25 industries) committed firms in perceptions of stakeholder
importance, seeing all except the media as important.
Hoffman (1999) USA Qualitative Intra-industry (chemical Institutional theory Policies and – A field level analysis reveals the cultural and
industry) regulations institutional origins of organizational impacts on the
natural environment. Environmental involvement is
influenced by the organizational field, situated
institutions and disruptive events.
Howard-Grenville USA Theoretical Intra-industry (high-tech) Resource-based Green products and – Model of issue selling can be used as resourcing.
(2007) view process
developments
Jiang and Bansal (2003) Canada Qualitative Intra-industry (16 pulp and Institutional theory Policies and Environmental While market demand and institutional pressures
(interviews) paper companies) regulations performance pushed firms towards the implementation of an EMS,
two contextual factors task visibility and environmen-
tal impact opacity are instrumental towards ISO 14001
certification.
Judge and Douglas USA Quantitative Cross-industry Resource-based Compliance, green Environmental Support for the natural resource based perspective by
(1998) (using survey view products and performance, Hart (1995); strategic planning process was positively
data) process financial related to financial and environmental performance.
developments performance
Kassinis and Vafeas USA Quantitative Cross-industry (5033 Resource- Compliance Environmental Inverse relationship between stakeholder pressures and
(2006) chemical, primary metals, dependence theory performance environmental performance.
electric utility plants)
King and Shaver (2001) USA Quantitative Cross-industry Institutional theory Compliance, green Environmental Highly regulated nations have tendency to seek
products and performance environmental responsibility and avoid pollution.
process Foreign-owned firms generate more waste if they
developments operate multiple facilities across multiple jurisdictions
in the US.
King and Lenox (2002) USA Quantitative Cross-industry (614 Resource-based Compliance, green Environmental Evidence that waste prevention leads to financial gain,
manufacturing firms) view products and performance, but no evidence that firms profit from reducing
pollution by other means. In addition, waste
process financial management often provides unexpected innovation

developments performance offsets.
Klassen and Whybark USA Quantitative Intra-industry (furniture Resource-based Compliance, green Environmental Development of an environmental technology portfolio
(1999) (survey based) industry, 83 firms) view products and performance, as a new construct grounded in the RBV of a firm. Pat-
process financial terns of investment in environmental technologies sig-
developments performance nificantly affect both manufacturing and environmental
performance.
Madsen (2009) USA, multi- Quantitative Intra-industry (automobile Resource based Compliance – Attracting corporate investments and preserving local
country industry, 62 carmakers) view and environmental quality need not be opposing objectives.
study (168 internationalization
countries) process theory
Marshall et al. (2010) USA, New Quantitative Intra-industry (wine Stakeholder theory Compliance Environmental Subjective norms and internal stakeholder pressures are
Zealand (survey) industry) and theory of performance common drivers of the adoption of environmental

reasoned action practices. Managerial attitudes and export dependence
are stronger determinants of environmental practice
adoption in New Zealand compared to the U.S.
Martín-Tapia et al. Spain Quantitative Intra-industry (123 Resource-based Compliance Non-financial Relationship between advanced environmental
(2010) (interviews) managers of exporting SMEs view performance strategies and export intensity. The relationship
from Spanish food industry) between advanced environmental strategies and
exports is stronger with an increase in the size of the
SMEs.
McGee (1998) USA Theoretical Cross-industry Institutional theory Compliance – There are no definitions for corporate social
(commentary) responsibility in Rugman and Verbekes’ analyses. CSR is
a fundamental dilemma of narrow self-interest vs. a
broader social responsibility. Strategic management re-
garding CSR is an important support.
Murillo-Luna et al. Spain Quantitative Cross-industry (240 Stakeholder theory Compliance Financial Environmental pressure from stakeholders leads to
(2008) (questionnaire) manufacturing firms) performance greater environmental proactivity, but the proactivity
doesn't impact the firms’ economic results.
Newton (2002) – Theoretical Cross-industry – Policies and – Advancement of an interdependency network
(normative) regulations perspective as alternative theoretical rationale and
potential basis for future research on the greening of
organizations.
Pinkse et al. (2010) multi- Qualitative (case Intra-industry (chemical Concept of Compliance A shared level of absorptive capacity across subsidiaries
country study analysis) industry) absorptive capacity facilitates a common understanding and use of
study environment-related knowledge. There is a need to
build unit-specific absorptive capacity on a subsidiary
level.
Prasad and Elmes – Theoretical Cross-industry – Policies and – The message of practicality emerged through three core
(2005) (normative, regulations messages in the discourse, viz. economic utilitarianism,
critical discourse compromise and inter-organizational collaboration.
analysis)
Reid and Toffel (2009) USA Quantitative Cross-industry Institutional theory Compliance Non-financial Explores the conditions under which firms participate in
(questionnaire, performance this endeavor. Building on theories of how social
survey) activists inspire changes in organizational norms,
beliefs, and practices. Targeting with an environmental
shareholder resolution.
Rugman and Kirton USA, Canada, Qualitative Cross-industry (MNEs), Regime analysis Policies and – Four effects on capacity building: Mexico introducing
(1998) Mexico government officials (37) regulations previously non-existing regulations, creates further un-
and NAFTA (88) derstanding of differences between regions, creating
common approach, and international benefit for North
American region.
191
(continued on next page)
192

Rugman and Verbeke USA Quantitative Cross-industry (commercial Resource-based Policies and Environmental The impact of environmental regulations on an MNE's
(1998a) and manufacturing) view regulations performance strategy.
Rugman and Verbeke USA, Qualitative Cross-industry Trade theory, Compliance, – Dynamic tensions between policy and firm behavior
(1998b) EUcountries, environmental policies and provide insight for managers and CER strategy.
Japan, argument of regulations
Canada Michael Porter
Russo and Fouts (1997) USA Quantitative Cross-industry (243 firms) Resource-based Compliance Environmental Environmental performance (environmental rating by
view performance FRDC).
Russo and Harrison USA Quantitative Intra-industry (electronics Congruence theory Compliance Environmental Reverse causality between organizational design and
(2005) (survey) industry, 169 firms) performance environmental performance. Organization
characteristics result from (rather than cause) emissions
performance.
Schäfer (2007) UK Qualitative, Intra-industry (3 firms in the Institutional theory Policies and Environmental Four factors related to the adoption of EMS: external and
longitudinal water and sewerage and performance regulations performance, internal institutional forces, environmental performance
(case study industry) oriented view of financial issues, economic performance issues.
analysis) management performance
Sharma and USA Quantitative Cross-industry Resource-based Compliance Environmental Found that strategies of proactive responsiveness were
Vredenburg (1998) (mail survey) view performance, associated with the emergence of capabilities.
financial
performance
Sharma (2000) Canada Quantitative Intra-industry (oil & gas) Institutional theory Compliance Non-financial Pollution measurement and habitat protection,
(building on performance voluntary restoration, materials & energy substitution,
case study) product & process redesign.
Sharma and Henriques Canada Qualitative Intra-industry (forestry) Resource-based Compliance, Policies Non-financial The Canadian forest products industry seems to have
(2005) (interviews) view and and regulations performance moved beyond pollution control and eco-efficiency to
stakeholder theory the next phase of sustainability practices.
Starik and Marcus USA, Canada, Literature – – – – Special research forum focusing on the relationship
(2000) Europe, review (focusing between businesses and the natural environment,
Japan on qualitative & exhibiting increasing comprehensiveness and
quantitative sophistication in this field.
studies)
5. Contributions, limitations and implications for further research
With this study, we gauge the current state of research on CER and analyze 54 studies in top-tier management journals. We
distinguish between single- and multi-country studies and develop seven criteria for analyzing the identified articles: geographic
focus, research method, industry focus, theoretical framework, management variables, performance variables, and main findings.
The comprehensive literature review enhances the state of knowledge in CER in numerous ways. Until now, there is no comparable
literature review that focuses exclusively on the environmental aspect of corporate responsibility. Our study makes a contribution by
giving a systematic in-depth overview of the current state of CER research. Furthermore, we were able to identify the focus of CER
research which we discussed comprehensively. In particular, we address important international aspects of CER by revealing
geographic focus areas and analyzing differences between single- and multi-country studies, thus contributing to international
management literature.
Our literature review shows that instead of trusting a firm to self-regulate, external pressures appear to be the most effective
method in forcing companies to implement CER practices that are best for the environment and not just the firm's financial
performance. Thus, based on the analyzed articles, we can conclude that external regulatory pressures, such as policy regulations,
appear to be the current answer to a greener world, which is an important implication for political decision makers. This also
implies that communities and governments should implement strict regulations and other political incentives to push CER
practices of firms. As the multi-country studies in our review demonstrate, this is valid for developed as well as developing
countries to increase competitiveness and to attract FDI of environmentally responsible firms.
Additionally, the results of our literature review are interesting for managers as we identified that intangible benefits
outside of financial performance gain increasing importance when dealing with environmental practices. This might be be-
cause firms are focused on maintaining a certain image that is consistent with the current external regulatory pressures. A
firm that puts its reputation in jeopardy by not complying with existing regulations may experience a severe backlash from
its shareholders. It is clear that it is easier to destroy rather than to create a solid reputation, and this could explain why
the retrieved articles found that intangible benefits, such as reputation, are of increasing importance. By taking these findings
into account, company managers, as well as policy makers, gain insight into how to configure their activities worldwide for
stimulating CER practices.
Although CER is a topic of worldwide interest and has several international effects, significantly more single- than multi-
country studies exist. Additional studies should further investigate cross-country effects and focus, for example, on the transfer-
ability of CER practices across borders (Arthaud-Day, 2005; Dowell et al., 2000). A promising theoretical concept is the
integration-responsiveness-framework (Doz and Prahalad, 1984), which allows one to analyze standardization potentials and dif-
ferentiation requirements. Our literature review clearly reveals the need for studies that analyze whether firms apply global CER
strategies or adapt them to the local conditions. This would also allow for testing the empirical relevance of the ‘pollution haven’
thesis, i.e., whether MNCs transfer waste-intensive value activities to countries with lax environmental standards.
Another avenue for future research is to apply institutional theory for exploring the influence of the political, legal, and cultural
environment on CER issues in different countries (Campbell, 2007; Husted and Allen, 2006). While institutional theory is often
used in CER research, its potential for comparative international studies has not yet been fully exploited. In particular, there is a
lack of cross-country analyses of institutional conditions that favor CER. For example, it would be interesting to compare industrial-
ized countries with emerging markets such as China and India in terms of their ability to promote CER and environmentally
responsible innovations of firms (Luo et al., 2011).
When interpreting the results of this literature review, several limitations have to be considered. Our time period was
set from 1997 to 2011 with the intention of finding articles that contained the most recent material and content. Limiting
our time period to a 15-year time frame, consequently, excluded articles that were written and published prior to 1997.
Moreover, our results may be affected by the long review processes (acceptance of paper until publication) which lasts,
on average, 2 years in top-tier journals and which implies a time lag for publication (Pehlan et al., 2002). There may already
be a significant increase in submissions of CER articles to top-tier journals, but they are not yet published due to this long review
process.
The journals that were preselected to be searched for articles were narrowed down to a very specific focus, namely SSCI impact
factor above 1500. Due to the fact that we used a limited number of journals with the highest academic reputation, this excluded
other outlets that may have published relevant studies in the field of CER research as well. There may have been more articles
with a CER focus in specialized journals on environmental issues that we excluded and journals with a lower impact factor.
Maybe researchers in the field of CER tend to publish their articles in lower tier journals or journals specializing in ecological
issues (e.g., Energy Policy, Ecological Economics) or social issues (e.g., Journal of Business Ethics, Business & Society) where the
review processes are shorter and articles are published more quickly. For example, the articles of Bassi et al. (2009) and
Simoes et al. (2008) were published in Energy Policy only six months after their initial submission. Correspondingly, there may
be more articles on international aspects of CER in international business journals with lower impact factors that were excluded
in our literature review.
During the next decade we can presume that the relevance of CER in academic journals will increase substantially. Ongoing
environmental catastrophes such as the BP oil catastrophe in 2010 or the nuclear reactor catastrophe in Japan in 2011 call for re-
search that is useful for both managers and policy makers. This literature review reveals that there is a great need for international
and comparative studies that help us to better understand a phenomenon that is as relevant as any other topic for present and
future generations.
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Journal of International Management: Dirk Holtbrügge, Corinna Dögl

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Journal of International Management 18 (2012) 180–195

Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect

Journal of International Management

How international is corporate environmental responsibility?

• What is the general level of emphasis on CER in management journals?

2.1. Research approach

2.2. Identiﬁcation and selection of relevant journals and articles

2.3. Coding and categorization of journal articles

3.1. Level of emphasis in management journals

3.2. Internationalization and geographic focus

Journal Author Year Journal Author Year

AMJ Andersson & Bateman 2000 JMS Chen 2005

Fig. 1. Number of CER articles in time horizon (1997–2010).

3.3. Research methods

3.4. Theoretical focus of CER research

Fig. 2. Geographic focus of CER articles.

Fig. 3. Research methods (in total numbers).

3.5. Industries covered by CER research

Fig. 4. Theoretical focus of CER research.

3.6. Primary contents

Fig. 5. CER industry analysis (in percentage).

D. Holtbrügge, C. Dögl / Journal of International Management 18 (2012) 180–195

Quantitative strategy formation. Chinese firms had abysmal

D. Holtbrügge, C. Dögl / Journal of International Management 18 (2012) 180–195

(continued on next page)

products and were more dependent on local and federal regulatory

D. Holtbrügge, C. Dögl / Journal of International Management 18 (2012) 180–195

process financial management often provides unexpected innovation

D. Holtbrügge, C. Dögl / Journal of International Management 18 (2012) 180–195

D. Holtbrügge, C. Dögl / Journal of International Management 18 (2012) 180–195

5. Contributions, limitations and implications for further research

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