"SME's Environmental Attributes and Performance: A Data Integration Approach"

Abstract

Achieving a climate-neutral economy requires the full mobilization of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Since data on SMEs' sustainability performance is scarce, we perform a statistical matching of data from the Flash Eurobarometer survey on "SMEs, resource efficiency and green markets" with Orbis Europe. We study the link between SME green activities and financial performance in a sample of more than 30,000 firms located in 32 countries. We find that in general green actions tend to not impact financial performance. However, we observe that this evidence is not homogeneous. Resource efficiency actions are associated with higher turnover growth in more economically developed economies and countries with a lower level of CO2 emissions per capita. This study shows the need for public support to facilitate the green transition of SMEs.

Caterina Santi

HEC Liège