Environmentally Sound Technologies and Competitiveness of Companies

Technologies play an important role in creating competitive advantage as well as controlling environmental impacts. This study deals with the relationship between environmentally sound technology and competitiveness of companies. It focuses on technologies in the value chain of printed paper from forest to market. How do environmentally sound technologies impact on competitiveness of companies? How do these technologies differ across the value chain? How do pollution prevention technologies and pollution-abatement technologies differ in influences? Competitiveness impacts are measured by the terms of cost and differentiation. The so-called Porter Hypothesis conserning the role of the pollution prevention technology in fulfilling legal requirements and creating competitiveness, is accepted only partly by this study. A new term of "environmental value creation" is defined.