The basic framework proposed in this paper focuses
on a crucial element in understanding the link
between corporate environmental performance
and economic performance and sheds some light to
the con¯icting empirical results in this ®eld of
research.
Managerial qualities, materialised both by the
choice of environmental pro®le and way how economically
a certain pro®le can be achieved, determine
the link between environmental and economic
performance. Only after having designed and established
the best (i.e. for the company most suitable
and economically ef®cient) environmental management
concept, management can, secondly, choose
the economically best amount of corporate environmental
protection activities. From an economic and
eco-ef®ciency perspective point A in Figure 2 should
be chosen and the amount of environmental protection
should be adapted to an innovation-shifted
transformation curve ES0-A-B-C. It is only now,
after having optimised the corporate environmental
management system in market-oriented (increasing
revenues) or eco-ef®ciency enhancing (cost reducing)
terms that choosing the economically desired
level of environmental performance re¯ects social
responsibility and the comparative valuation of
economic and environmental goals.
According to this basic framework, empirical studies
should focus more on the different environmental
management concepts applied in different
companies to explain the causal relations, and the
correlations between environmental protection activities
and environmental management on the one
hand and economic performance on the other hand.