Is an Environmental Management System able to influence environmental and competitive performance? The case of the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) in the European Union

The EMAS Regulation (Reg 761/01 EC) is an EU scheme for the implementation of an Environmental Management System (EMS) by any organization, implemented by the European Commission since the year 1993. The EMS has been originally proposed both by the European Commission and by ISO as the frontrunner of a series of policy tools that were conceived to enable companies to simultaneously pursue environmental objectives and competitive targets (in a synergetic way). Based on the unique dataset of the EVER project, this paper investigates whether or not an EMS implemented within the EMAS Regulation has an effect on firm performance both from an environmental and a competitive point of view. The econometric analysis shows a positive impact of well-designed environmental management system on environmental performance and, as a consequence, on technical and organizational innovations. Effects on other competitive variable as market performance, resource productivity and intangible asset are not strongly supported