The Corporate Political Activities of Multinational Enterprises: the Automotive Industry and Environmental Regulations in the European Union

Society?s concern over the negative impact of business activities on the natural environment has significantly increased in recent years and, as a result, environmental regulations have grown considerably both in number and scope. As these affect businesses and their competitive environment, firms are interested in shaping the nature of such legislation through corporate political activities (CPAs, also called interest representation and lobbying). This book investigates the CPAs of multinational enterprises (MNEs) in the automotive industry that are directed towards environmental regulations in the EU, which is a leading actor in this policy area. Using the resource-based view as its theoretical framework, it investigates six research questions that address the characteristics, determinants and consequences of these CPAs in relation to three regulatory areas (pollutant emissions, CO2 emissions and end-of-life vehicles). Case study analysis is based on 71 interviews with stakeholders from the automotive industry (the entire population of global carmakers that are politically active in Brussels) as well as from related industries, EU institutions and civil society organisations.