Does corporate R&D investment affect firm environmental performance? Evidence from G-6 countries

The rate of climate change due to global warming has become a substantial concern and appeared as a real-world phenomenon in the recent years. However, it is imperative to know how business enterprises alter such concern. Recent studies involve a variety of firm-level factors to create a robust link between business enterprises' environmental and financial performance. However, little is known regarding the role of research and development (R&D) investment on firms' environmental performance. Using a firm-level data for the period 2004–2016 from G-6 countries, this study empirically investigates how R&D investment affects the firm environmental performance measured by energy and carbon emissions intensities. We find that R&D investment improves the firm's environmental performance consistent with the theoretical argument of natural resource-based view (NRBV). Our findings are robust to alternative econometric specifications, alternative variable specifications, and sub-samples. Our findings offer novel insights to the policymakers, business managers, and regulators. •Investigates corporate R&D and environmental performance•Uses firm-level data from 2004 to 2016 for G-6 countries•Employs robust econometrics techniques•Corporate R&D improves environmental performance.