How to balance economic profits and environmental protection: the impacts of cash hedging on remanufacturing firms

Liu, J., Xia, S., Wang, Z., Nie, J., Ameen, N., Yan, C. and Lim, M. K. (2023) How to balance economic profits and environmental protection: the impacts of cash hedging on remanufacturing firms. International Journal of Production Economics, 258, 108783. (doi: 10.1016/j.ijpe.2023.108783)

Abstract

The popularity of the circular economy attracts more attention to balance environmental and economic impacts. Many supply chain remanufacturing firms have started to use the cash flow to invest in cost-reduction technologies to increase profits. However, the uncertainty of cash flow significantly affects the technology investment effectiveness, and therefore, some firms attempt to adopt cash hedging strategies to mitigate the uncertainty. This study investigates the impacts of cash hedging on remanufacturing firms' profits and the environment through the lenses of cost-reduction technologies investments. The proposed nonlinear programming models were drawn on cash hedging and risk management theory. Empirical regression analysis was conducted using longitudinal datasets of listed Chinese remanufacturing firms for ten years ranging from 2010 to 2019. Different from the traditional wisdom which argues that cash hedging has a single effect (i.e., positive, negative, or no impact) on corporate economic performance, this paper's results indicate that the impact of cash hedging on corporate profits varies in different conditions; Further, this study is one of the first to identify some interesting conditions, in which cash hedging can bring along remanufacturing firms with profits while protect environment. This study provides insightful suggestions for the manufacturer's and government's policy design.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This study was supported by Humanities and Social Science Foundation of Chinese Ministry of Education, China (22YJC630088); Guangdong Philosophy and Social Science Planning Project, China (GD22XGL18); China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, China (2022M710858).
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Lim, Professor Ming
• Authors: Liu, J., Xia, S., Wang, Z., Nie, J., Ameen, N., Yan, C., and Lim, M. K.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Management
• Journal Name: International Journal of Production Economics
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 0925-5273
• ISSN (Online): 1873-7579
• Published Online: 28 January 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 The Authors
• First Published: First published in International Journal of Production Economics 258: 108783
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License