Eco-innovation and financial performance at companies established in Brazil

Abstract

This survey explored 132 sustainability reports, certified by the Global Reporting Initiative, of companies established in Brazil with the objective of analysing the influence of eco-innovation results on financial performance in the 2010/2012 period. Considering the theoretical model used to stratify eco-innovation in environmental innovations and in social innovations, a relevant sample of 48 companies was obtained. The method comprised the combined use of the multivariate techniques of factor analysis and multiple linear regression. The study results indicate that the most representative eco-innovative variables are geared towards the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, reduction of water consumption and reuse of solid waste. In particular, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions was the only one with significant and positive influence on the return on sales (ROS). The results of social innovations did not reflect improvements for more than 50% of the sample, and its results did not produce a significant impact on the financial performance variables. The eco-innovative results of the sample showed high heterogeneity, which suggests differences in management and the difficulty of associating investments in eco-innovation with organisational strategy.