Are born global firms environmentally more responsible? Evidence from the East Asia and Pacific region

This study examines the environmental performance (EP) of born-global firms (BGFs) in the East Asia-Pacific (EAP) region. Drawing on the resource-based view (RBV), we investigate whether BGFs exhibit greater environmental responsibility compared to other firms. By analyzing an unbalanced panel dataset of firms from seven EAP countries, we find that BGFs do indeed exhibit higher levels of environmental responsibility than non-BGFs. Our results suggest that BGFs are more likely to adopt policies that contribute to the reduction of natural resource use and emissions. On the other hand, our results suggest that BGFs may be less concerned about product innovation than non-BGFs. In addition, our results remain robust to alternative regression models, BGF proxies, and sample selection bias. The implications of our study are relevant for policymakers and environmental regulators, providing valuable insights into the environmental performance of BGFs.