Although prior research generated inconclusive findings between a firm's environmental management system and firm financial performance, attention to resolve this inconsistency by examining the internal channels is limited. Thus, this study focuses on a firm's access to finance and investigates whether a firm's environmental management system certification (EMS) leads to better access to finance. Based on the organizational legitimacy perspective, we hypothesize that this certification will benefit a firm with stakeholder approval and support and consequently alleviate its financial capital constraints. We further posit that the proposed relationship will be moderated by three types of legitimacy environments pertaining to how stakeholders and investors make the judgment on the environmental management system certification. We document that the proposed relationship, that is, the positive relationship between environmental management system certification and access to finance, will be stronger when the government attaches larger importance to environmental protection (regulative legitimacy), better environmental record (moral legitimacy), and better financial position (pragmatic legitimacy). Empirical analyses provide strong corroborating evidence for our predictions. These findings have important theoretical and managerial implications that are well discussed in this study.

中文翻译：

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可持续发展的力量：环境管理体系认证是否会影响公司的融资渠道？

尽管先前的研究在公司的环境管理体系和公司财务绩效之间产生了不确定的发现，但通过检查内部渠道来解决这种不一致的关注是有限的。因此，本研究侧重于公司的融资渠道，并调查公司的环境管理体系认证 (EMS) 是否有助于更好地获得融资。基于组织合法性的角度，我们假设该认证将使获得利益相关者批准和支持的公司受益，从而减轻其财务资本约束。我们进一步假设，拟议的关系将受到三种合法环境的调节，这些环境与利益相关者和投资者如何对环境管理体系认证做出判断有关。监管合法性）、更好的环境记录（道德合法性）和更好的财务状况（务实合法性）。实证分析为我们的预测提供了强有力的佐证。这些发现具有重要的理论和管理意义，在本研究中得到了很好的讨论。