Green manufacturing and environmental productivity growth

Purpose: Due to stringent regulations on carbon emissions, green manufacturing has become a critical issue in manufacturers’ strategic planning. Manufacturers are greening production through carbon abatement activities. This study aims to investigate the factors that influence the effects of carbon abatement on environmental productivity growth. Design/methodology/approach Using data envelopment analysis with directional distance function, this study examines productivity growth associated with carbon abatement under regulated and unregulated production technologies. A pollution abatement index is constructed for determining the effects of carbon abatement on environmental productivity growth. Panel data of eighteen European countries in paper and pulp and coke sectors are collected for the analysis. Findings The empirical findings reveal that carbon abatement may positively or negatively affect environmental productivity growth which is dependent on the nature of technology in a sector, the innovation capabilities of a country and environmental regulations. Originality/value Conventional approaches in measuring productivity changes do not normally take undesired outputs (e.g. carbon emissions) into consideration. This study contributes to literature by constructing a pollution abatement index that considers productivity changes under a joint production technology (where both desired and undesired outputs are considered). The findings enhance current understandings on the effectiveness of carbon abatement activities and help managers establish corporate environmental strategies to adopt green manufacturing