The Use of the TRI Database for Studying Organizational Performance

James Cordeiro and Joseph Sarkis

Proceedings of the Fourth International Congress on Environmentally Conscious Design and Manufacturing, Cleveland, OH, July 1996, pp. 27-34

Using a sample of 523 US firms in 1992, we utilize the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s toxic releases inventory database to add to the growing body of evidence on the relationship between firm-level environmental management performance and financial performance. In this study, we document a positive relationship between pollution prevention (measured as reductions in total toxic wastes generated) and industry analyst 1- and 5-year earnings-per-share forecasts. However, no relationship was observed between total releases to the environment and analyst forecasts. The results and analysis of this study are included in this paper.

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