TITLE:
Environmental Management Systems and Financial Performance: The Case of Listed Companies in Mauritius
AUTHORS:
Pariag-Maraye Neeveditah, Ansaram Karishma, Ramkalawon Nitoosheeka Devi
KEYWORDS:
Environmental Management Systems, Financial Performance, Pollution Control, Waste Reduction, Recycling, Cutting Use of Energy, Cutting Paper Consumption, Carbon Footprint Reduction
JOURNAL NAME:
Theoretical Economics Letters,
Vol.7 No.7,
December
7,
2017
ABSTRACT:
The objective of this paper is to examine the
relationship between environmental management practices adopted by listed firms
on the Stock exchange of Mauritius and their impact, if any, on their financial
performance. A content analysis of annual reports of the listed companies over
the period 2011 to 2014 to determine the level of environmental management
systems (EMS) is implemented by the local firms. For the purpose of this
research, the environmental management practices were classified into 6
categories namely pollution control, waste reduction, recycling, cutting use of
energy, cutting paper consumption and carbon footprint reduction based on
extant literature. The study reveals that there is an insignificant
relationship between environmental management practices and financial
performance except for cutting use of energy which generated a significant
relationship. The results are in line with studies by [1] who
found that companies tend to be more environmentally conscious due to
compliance rather than a voluntary basis or to reap corporate benefits. In
addition, [2] states
that since the reduction of waste water, air emission and other pollution
cannot be detected and measured, it is difficult to assess the relationship
between these two variables.