6. Conclusion
Using Japanese facility-level data, we estimated the effects of ISO 14001 certification on the promotion of more advanced environmental practices, namely green supply chain management. We find that ISO 14001 promotes GSCM practices. Facilities with ISO 14001 are 40% more likely to assess their suppliers’ environmental performance and 50% more likely to require that their suppliers undertake specific environmental practices.
In the presence of the causal link between ISO 14001 and GSCM practices, we have argued that ISO 14001 may positively affect the environmental performance of suppliers by way of GSCM. This argument is valid if suppliers respond to buyers’ environmental performance assessments and requirements that they undertake specific environmental measures. However,