The influences of transaction costs and institutional environment on the green supply chain collaboration

[[abstract]]隨著環境保護及永續發展意識的提升，加上綠色消費市場也日漸擴大，企業對綠色環保的概念越來越重視。面對來自於國際組織所制定的各項環保法規、國內政府實施的各類環境政策、企業夥伴對綠色法規要求的重視等，企業普遍認為在此環境下自身已經無法獨立落實綠色管理，如果能夠有效推動供應鏈成員間的協同合作，將可為企業降低成本與提升企業競爭力。本研究主要從社會面與成本面探討制度環境、交易成本與綠色供應鏈協同合作三者間的關係，並且驗證交易成本是否存在中介效果。研究以結構方程模式針對制度環境、交易成本及綠色供應鏈協同合作進行探討，研究這三個構面彼此間是否存在正向關係。研究結果顯示，這三個主要構面彼此間具有正向的關係，交易成本變數也具有中介效果。具體而言，當企業面臨的制度環境壓力提升時，企業為分散壓力，會更加落實綠色供應鏈協同合作。此外，當企業間溝通、協調的頻率上升，員工與設備的投資成本增加，也就是交易成本提高時，企業為分攤風險，也會加強綠色供應鏈協同合作的推行。面對綠色經濟的到來，企業一方面必須面對越來越高的政府法規與夥伴規範的要求，另一方面必須投資在人員、設備以建立相關的能力與競爭力，供應鏈協同合作的需求與實際推動勢必隨之提升。為因應此趨勢的發展，綠色供應鏈管理技術的發展與相關人才的培育必須迅速啟動。[[abstract]]With the development of environmental awareness and enterprise sustainability as well as the expansion of green consumer markets, the concept of green businesses is gaining attentions. Faced with the pressures of environmental laws and regulations from both international organizations and their governments, and green requirements from business partners, companies realize that they are not able to implement green management alone. It is believed that benefits such as green cost reduction and green competitive advantage development can only be achieved through the collaboration of supply chain partners.This study investigates the relationships among institutional environment (IE), transaction costs (TC), and green supply chain collaboration (GSCC) based on the social and cost viewpoints. The intermediary effect of transaction costs is also analyzed. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is the major methodology applied.The results showed that institutional environment has positive relationships with TC and GSCC. Transaction costs have positive impacts on GSCC. Meanwhile, Transaction costs exert positive intermediary effect on GSCC through IE. It is thus suggested that government and environmental institutions should impose related legislations and requirements to put pressure on the industry to cooperate with their partners to achieve environmental protection purpose. Even though more frequent communications and transaction frequencies will increase transaction costs, they can also facilitate green supply chain collaboration. The key is to make the communication and transaction more effective and efficient