In recent years, companies have increasingly been taking measures to reduce their carbon footprint to minimize environmental impact. However, research that looks at factors that influence carbon emissions is scarce. We address this gap by empirically examining the impact of internal and external initiatives on firms' carbon footprints, as captured by their Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. Using secondary data collected from CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project), we carry out an inductive analysis to understand the role of some of the more commonly adopted practices for carbon footprint reduction by non-financial companies in the Global 500 list, which represents the largest companies by market capitalization. Specifically, we investigate factors contributing to internal and external decarbonization efforts in a company's supply chain, and how they affect emissions and financial performance outcomes. Consistent with past sustainability research, we include financial and environmental motives as key considerations for assessing the usefulness of carbon reduction practices. However, we find limited support for the factors that we hypothesized to influence carbon footprint reduction and economic benefits, and most firms pursuing carbon reduction initiatives were yet to see the effectiveness of the initiatives. All internal initiatives, except the disclosure scores, were positively associated with Scope 1 emissions. The influence of supplier engagement on Scope 3 emissions was significant, but non-significant on Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. As such, rigorous and comprehensive reporting about sources and the management of emissions do not necessarily translate into lower emissions by external supply chain partners. Finally, reduction of emissions per se did not lead to superior financial performance. Theoretical and managerial implications of these results are discussed.

近年来，公司越来越多地采取措施减少碳足迹，以最大程度地减少对环境的影响。但是，缺乏研究影响碳排放的因素的研究。我们通过实证研究内部和外部计划对公司的碳足迹的影响来解决这一差距，正如公司的范围1、2和3排放所反映的那样。利用从CDP（以前称为“碳披露”项目）收集的辅助数据，我们进行了归纳分析，以了解非金融公司在“全球500强”列表中一些更常用的减少碳足迹做法的作用。市值最大的公司。具体来说，我们调查了有助于公司供应链内部和外部脱碳工作的因素，以及它们如何影响排放和财务业绩。与过去的可持续性研究一致，我们将财务和环境动机作为评估减碳实践有效性的主要考虑因素。但是，对于我们假设的影响碳足迹减少和经济利益的因素，我们发现支持有限，大多数追求碳减排计划的公司尚未看到该计划的有效性。除披露得分外，所有内部举措均与范围1排放呈正相关。供应商参与对范围3排放的影响很大，但对范围1和范围2排放的影响不显着。因此，关于来源和排放管理的严格而全面的报告并不一定意味着外部供应链合作伙伴会减少排放。最后，减少排放本身并没有带来卓越的财务业绩。讨论了这些结果的理论和管理意义。