Research On The Environmental Responsibility And Competitiveness Of Transnational Auto Companies

On the5th2013, former Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said in the government work report that, now chinese car ownership per100urban households stood at21.5.4In February2013, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences released the first automotive social development report, and pointed out:in the next10years, car ownership for every100households will be over60.5The development of the automotive industry appears to be rising, but the environmental responsibility of automotive industry can not be avoided. The environmental responsibility involves various aspects of the automotive industry, from R&D to energy use, from pollution control to product recycling. Environmental responsibility is bound to play an important role in the develop concept, forward direction and industrial pattern of the automotive industry.Compared to other companies, the environmental responsibility practices of transnational auto companies began earlier, with their more clear strategic goal and less short-term behavior, beyond which, years of environmental responsibility practice and disclosure of quantitative research provide us first-hand information. Therefore, in-depth study of environmental responsibility of transnational auto companies, on the one hand, could enrich environmental responsibility theory, on the other hand, could make recommendations for the environmental responsibility practices of ransnational auto companies. The theoretical and practical importance is so significant.The main innovations of this paper include:First, the economic analysis of environmental responsibility and competitiveness of transnational auto companies. Traditional view holds that transnational auto companies should not assume the environmental responsibility, because that responsibility will increase the companies’costs, decrease their competitiveness, which is taken for granted.(Friedman,1984)6. But in fact, it is not true, since environmental responsibility coul be seen as companies’economic behavior, then we could and should test that view with the methods of economic analysis, from the point of cost and benefit. This paper correct that view by broadening the theory assumptions, which is more close to the actual situation, in accordance with the traditional economics analysis, and then further enriched the correction by extending the closed economy to the open economy.Second, the game study of the environmental responsibility of transnational auto companies and competitiveness. On the issue of environmental responsibility, transnational auto companies face two games, one is the game of cost and benefit, the other is the game of decision-making and competitors’reaction. Administrators’divergence on environmental responsibility, does not lie in environmental responsibility should or should not be taken, but rather in what timing, what efforts to fulfill the environmental responsibilities, meanwhile taking into account the reaction of competitors. This paper make recommendations for the administrators by broadening the theory assumptions, which is more close to the actual situation, and extending a single game to repeated game, in accordance with the Prisoner’s Dilemma Solutions.Third, the establishment of environmental responsibility indicators of transnational auto companies. This part consolidate characteristics of auto industrial process and the United Nations’layer by layer refine ideas about the indicators of transnational environmental responsibility. Establishment of suitable indicators is not only the key link between the qualitative research and quantitative research, but also an innovative attempt. Indicators establishment is helpful to quantify the research questions and be applied to econometric models. Fourth, the empirical study on the environmental responsibility and competitiveness of transnational auto companies. To avoid priori error, the empirical study use twice regression way, once with the environmental responsibility as independent variable, once with the competitiveness as independent variable. Sample contains lots of variables and data, which accompanied by the horizontal group comparion and characteristics of the longitudinal time series. Conventional monohydric or polyhydric linear regression can not solve mixed data regression like this. So paper decides to adopt the static and dynamic way to verify this panel data regression. Two-way, twice test is another innovative attempt.The main conclusions of the paper include:First, from the point of theoretical study, economic analysis corrects traditional view:in open economies and oligopolistic market conditions, when the price elasticity of total revenue is greater than the the price elasticity of total cost, transnational auto companies assume environmental responsibility, could make the market price rising, with total revenue and profitability levels therefore increasing, thereby increase the company’s competitiveness. Game Theory summarizes the conclusions established conditions: transnational auto companies should obtain from the government or public adequate responsibility awards (ie, non-rational incentive), submit the government or the public to punish the default behavior of competitors, and shorten the single game cycle with competitors as much as possible.Second, from the point of empirical study, On the aspect of the impact of environmental responsibility of transnational auto companies on the competitiveness:1, the assument of environmental responsibility of tansnational auto companies impacts their competitiveness, in terms of level of total assets, level of profitability and market share;2, the impact extent (impact factor size), direction (forward or reverse) varies within the different environmental responsibility indicators of transnational auto companies. Even for the same environmental responsibility indicators of transnational auto companies, their impact on the competitiveness also varied due to the different lag;3, overall, in the short term, the reverse impact of environmental responsibility of transnational auto companies on their competitiveness is more obvious. Conversely, in the long-term positive impct is more obvious;4, the maximum long-term impacts on the competitiveness of environmental responsibility of transnational auto companies appears three years later, the environmental responsibility performance of t year, whose impact on the competitiveness of t+3year is the most obvious.On the aspect of the impact of the competitiveness of transnational auto companies on environmental responsibility:5, the competitiveness of tansnational auto companies impacts their environmental responsibility, in terms of R&D, process control and final product;6, the impact extent (impact factor size), direction (forward or reverse) varies within the different competitiveness indicators of transnational auto companies. Even for the same competitiveness indicators of transnational auto companies, their impact on the environmental responsibility also varied due to the different lag;7, overall, in the short term, the reverse impact of competitiveness of transnational auto companies on their environmental responsibility is more obvious. Conversely, in the long-term positive impct is more obvious;8, Unlike the impact of environmental responsibility of transnational auto companies on the competitiveness, the maximum long-term impacts on the environmental responsibility of ness of transnational auto companies appears one year later, the competitive performance of/year, whose impact on the environmental responsibility of t+3year is the most obvious. Third, from the point of casel study, which consist and enrich the conclusions of theoretical and empirical study. The case of the BMW, GM and Ford auto’companies confirmed the interaction between R&D factors of environmental responsibility and competitiveness; The case of Volkswagen, Volvo, Honda and Toyota auto companies confirmed the interaction between process control factors of environmental responsibility and competitiveness; The case of Toyota, Daimler auto companies confirmed final product factors of environmental responsibility and competitiveness. The case of Mitsubishi auto company also provides evidence to the contrary.