Eco-environmental footprint and value chains of technology multinational enterprises operating in emerging economies

Drawing from signaling theory and the multinational global value chain (GVC) literature, this study examines a critical question “does the adoption of eco-friendly technology improve firm value?”. In addressing this question, we test a panel dataset for 633 technology multinational enterprises (TMNEs) operating in 15 emerging economies and covering 10 years from 2009 to 2019. This paper provides new insight into the increasing CO ₂ emission concerns, especially from the emerging economies and household consumption perspectives. Our study reveals that the adoption of eco-friendly technology by TMNE's GVC operations will increase firm value and increase total environmental spending. Consequently, CO ₂ footprints in emerging countries will be reduced. Our findings are robust, controlling for several firm-level and country-level variables in our analysis. The practical, managerial, and policy implications of our study are discussed.