Objective
To analyse the effect on the competitiveness, employment and skills of individual firms, when they make adjustments to environmental legislation and pressures coming from purchasers in the market.
OBJECTIVES:
To analyse the effect on the competitiveness, employment and skills of individual firms, when they make adjustments to environmental legislation and pressures coming from purchasers in the market.
DESCRIPTION:
Matched plant comparisons are applied to the issue of environmental standards, company competitiveness, the diffusion of clean technology, profitability and employment. Samples of manufacturing and retail firms are compared across Northern and Southern Ireland, Germany and Italy. All of these regions contain Objective 1 or equivalent areas, and are distinguished by varying environmental standards and levels of enforcement.
The research concentrates on the food industry and looks specifically at the following issues:
(i.)Food processing
The impact of environmental regulation and other forms of "pressures" on company competitiveness are measured.
(ii.)Retailer Effects
The pressures for environmental and competitiveness improvements arising from market sources, especially from retail firms are evaluated, including how manufacturers adjust to these pressures.
(iii.) Packaging suppliers
The impact of changes in demand and in the environmental regulations on packaging and the linkage effects between participants in the supply chain, including manufacturers and retailers are explored. These linkages and supply chain pressures are examined in both directions, both up and down from the retailer.
Samples consist of entire supply chains (packaging suppliers, food processors, retail purchasers) with one hundred and fifty firms being sampled in total. The sampling of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs), multinational branch firms, private and state companies reflects the varying structures of ownership in the case study regions. The overall conclusions will focus on the drivers for and the effects of environmental improvement in the packaging-food-supply chain.
Fields of science
Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
BT7 1NN Belfast
United Kingdom