Determinants of environmental strategy in the automotive sector: Analysis of key factors.

The objective of this study is to provide empirical evidence on the determinants of environmental strategy. The authors analyze the key factors that lead the firm to implement a particular environmental behavior that translates into a specific environmental strategy. The factors considered are firm size, management's attitude toward the environment, and the perceived importance of the stakeholders in influencing the firm's environmental practices. The study focuses on the Spanish automotive sector. Using a typology of environmental strategies commonly used in the literature, the firms are classified into four groups: reactive, defensive, accommodative, and proactive. The relations between these strategies and the determinant factors are analyzed. The analysis also considers the different components of the value chain in the automotive sector. The results show a positive relation between the level of development of the firm's environmental strategy and the factors analyzed. The factors characterizing a proactive compared to a reactive environmental strategy are larger firm size, managers more committed to the environment, and greater perceived importance of the stakeholders in influencing the firm's environmental practices. This evidence reveals the key factors that encourage firms to adopt a particular environmental strategy in this sector. Finally, concern for the environment has spread throughout the entire value chain, affecting the environmental strategy of both suppliers and car manufacturers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]