Modern management: good for the environment or just hot air?

Bloom, Nick, Genakos, Christos, Martin, Ralf and Sadun, Raffaella (2008) Modern management: good for the environment or just hot air? CEP Discussion Paper (891). London School of Economics and Political Science. Centre for Economic Performance, London, UK. ISBN 9780853282983

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Abstract

We use an innovative methodology to measure management practices in over 300 manufacturing firms in the UK. We then match this management data to production and energy usage information for establishments owned by these firms. We find that establishments in better managed firms are significantly less energy intensive. They use less energy per unit of output, and also in relation to other factor inputs. This is quantitatively substantial: going from the 25th to the 75th percentile of management practices is associated with a 17.4% reduction in energy intensity. This negative relationship is robust to a variety of controls for industry, location, technology and other factor inputs. Better managed firms are also significantly more productive. One interpretation of these results is that well managed firms are adopting modern lean manufacturing practices, which allows them to increase productivity by using energy more efficiently. This suggests that improving the management practices of manufacturing firms may help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Item Type:	Monograph (Discussion Paper)
Official URL:	http://cep.lse.ac.uk/
Additional Information:	© 2008 The authors
Divisions:	Centre for Economic Performance
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD28 Management. Industrial Management H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
JEL classification:	Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q4 - Energy > Q40 - General L - Industrial Organization > L2 - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q5 - Environmental Economics > Q50 - General O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Technological Change; Research and Development > O33 - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Technological Change; Research and Development > O32 - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D M - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting > M2 - Business Economics
Date Deposited:	06 Jul 2010 15:03
Last Modified:	15 Sep 2023 23:13
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/28505

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