Using panel data of 1080 multinational corporations (MNCs) from the United States, we examine the effects of environmental sustainability practices on the degree of firms’ offshoring activities. In addition, we disaggregate offshoring activities into their core components depending on whether or not the firm buys (inputs) or sells (outputs) and/or owns assets in a given country and examine the extent to which sustainability practices influence the different components of offshoring decisions. The results indicate that sustainability practices significantly affect offshoring activities of MNCs. In particular, we found that sustainable business practices matter when the firm sells goods or owns assets in the given host nation. Additionally, the results show that the sustainability–degree of the internationalization relationship is crucial for MNCs that have offshoring activities in advanced economies relative to those firms that have activities in emerging markets. Our results are robust to alternative explanations.

使用来自美国的 1080 家跨国公司 (MNC) 的面板数据，我们研究了环境可持续性实践对公司离岸活动程度的影响。此外，我们根据公司是否在特定国家购买（投入）或出售（产出）和/或拥有资产，将离岸活动分解为其核心组成部分，并检查可持续性实践对离岸业务不同组成部分的影响程度决定。结果表明，可持续性实践显着影响跨国公司的离岸活动。特别是，我们发现当公司在特定东道国销售商品或拥有资产时，可持续的商业实践很重要。此外，结果表明，相对于在新兴市场开展业务的公司而言，国际化关系的可持续性-程度对于在发达经济体开展离岸业务的跨国公司至关重要。我们的结果对其他解释是稳健的。