Greener Pathways, Strategy, and Economic Performance: A Cross‐National Study on European Service SMEs
研究了欧洲服务型中小企业采用循环经济框架下的资源效率实践对实现碳中和和降低生产成本的影响，发现未采用这些实践的企业面临更高的生产成本，而运输和仓储企业若有碳中和战略则更可能采用资源效率实践。
ABSTRACT Research into how environmental management practices impact firm performance has largely overlooked the service sector's small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). Drawing on industry, resource, and institution‐based strategy perspectives, this study investigates how adopting resource efficiency (RE) practices within the framework of a circular economy ( CE ) supports European service SMEs in achieving carbon neutrality (CN) and reducing production costs (PCs). The study also examines difficulties in adapting to environmental regulations among adopters, their associated impact on performance, and the importance of having a CN strategy. A combined permutation test conducted on 681 European service SMEs from 35 countries revealed––after controlling for sectoral differences––that SMEs without RE practices within the CE framework faced higher PCs, a critical factor for firm performance. Additionally, transportation and storage SMEs with a CN strategy demonstrated greater adoption of RE practices. Implications for theory, practice, and future research are discussed.