Can Voluntary Programs Resolve China's Environmental Crisis? An Analysis of ISO 14001 Certification in a Sample of Chinese Firms

I study the determinants of ISO 14001 certification in a sample of manufacturing firms in China as well as the effect of ISO 14001 certification on firm environmental performance. Results indicate that ISO 14001 plays an important role in signaling the firm's environmental technology to environmentally conscious customers. ISO 14001 also appears to improve firm environmental performance, even after controlling for endogeneity between performance and certification