Corporate Decision Making and SocioEnvironmental Investments In Brazil: An Analysis Based On Social Audits

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyse environmental investments made between 1996 and 2008 by two hundred Brazilian firms. The study uses traditional techniques to establish the representativeness and importance
of the variables and the extent of correlations between them. The results
indicate a significant correlation between the amount of environmental investments and variables such as age, level of education, professional training of employees and profit-sharing policies. However, no significant correlation between environmental investments and profitability was found. The analysis revealed a linkage between decisions to invest in the environment and social investments outside the firm.