Electronic (e−) invoices potentially enhance environmental sustainability in several stages from production of paper to its usage. This study investigates empirically to what extent a set of firm characteristics and external factors associate with the probability to send e-invoices and with the intensity of usage, based on a representative survey of approximately 1500 Swedish firms. An invoice is considered electronic when it is exchanged in an automated system between the buyer and the seller. The analysis includes firms with one employee or larger across all industries except, agriculture, fishery, forestry, public administration and defence. Descriptive statistics show that 42 per cent of the firms in 2016 send e-invoices. By use of a two-part model, estimation results reveal that both internal and external factors are associated with the e-invoice behaviour. The probability of adoption is significantly higher for firms with government sector clients and a large number of invoices. The intensity estimation exhibits a reverse pattern, where the number of e-invoices is most strongly associated with the invoice pattern. Another internal factor of importance for the extent of e-invoices is the level of labour productivity. Construction firms have the highest probability to adopt e-invoices and manufacturing firms scale-up the usage. Besides this, neither industry affiliation nor size-class is crucial. When size-class is estimated separately, it appears that medium-sized and large firms strongly associate their invoice adoption with type of client, while the extent of the activity is solely related to internal factors. For micro enterprises and small firms, kind of client is the most important aspect at all.

电子（e-）发票在从纸张生产到使用的多个阶段都可能提高环境的可持续性。这项研究基于对约1500家瑞典公司的代表性调查，对一组公司特征和外部因素在何种程度上与发送电子发票的可能性以及使用强度进行了实证研究。如果发票在自动系统中在买卖双方之间交换，则视为电子发票。分析包括除农业，渔业，林业，公共行政和国防以外的所有行业中具有一名雇员或以上雇员的公司。描述性统计数据显示，2016年有42％的公司发送电子发票。通过使用两部分模型，估计结果表明，内部和外部因素都与电子发票行为有关。对于具有政府部门客户和大量发票的公司，采用的可能性要高得多。强度估算显示出相反的模式，其中电子发票的数量与发票模式密切相关。电子发票范围的另一个重要内部因素是劳动生产率水平。建筑公司采用电子发票的可能性最高，而制造公司则扩大使用量。除此之外，行业关系和规模级别都不是关键。如果分别估算规模级别，那么看来中型和大型公司将其发票采用与客户类型紧密相关，活动的范围仅与内部因素有关。对于微型企业和小型企业而言，客户的种类是最重要的方面。