IN SEARCH OF THE SOCIAL LEGITIMACY: THE RELATION BETWEEN THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF BRAZILIAN COMPANIES’ ECONOMICAL ACTIVITY AND THE INVESTMENTS IN THE ENVIRONMENT

Abstract

In order to reach the social legitimacy, it is possible that the companies adopt certain procedures, not because they believe in their efficiency, but because society understands that such mechanisms are effective and, thus, imposes the obligation of observing them. More specifically, concerning to the environment, companies could be investing not for being indeed concerned with their preservation, but because they need, somehow, to legitimate their position. In this context, the goal of this paper is to analyze the relation between the environmental impact due to the economical activity and the volume of investments of Brazilian companies in the environment. The sample consists of 205 companies that presented the Social Balance in the years of 2005, 2006 and 2007. These companies were classified by pollution potential and usage degree of natural resources, according to the National Politics of the Environment law (10.165/2000). To reach the established goal, the techniques Qui-square and Correspondence Analysis (ANACOR) were used. The Qui-square test confirmed the relation between the potential environmental impact and the environmental investments. In the same way, the ANACOR evidenced that the companies whose activity doesn't cause environmental impact are more inclined to make low environmental investments. On the other hand, companies of high and low/moderate environmental impact are more predisposed to make high and moderate environmental investments, corroborating the legitimacy theory, where the investments are a strategy to seek social legitimacy.