A stakeholder model in economic geography: perception and management of environmental stakeholders in German manufacturing companies

Abstract

n this paper we aim to show that stakeholder theory can enrich analysis in (environmental) economic geography. By applying and modifying the stakeholder salience model from
management studies, we analyse which factors influence company managers in their environmental decision-making and which priorities they give to competing stakeholder claims.
We test the model on data from 250 German manufacturing firms. Overall, the results strongly support the basic assumptions of stakeholder theory. They indicate that stakeholder attributes such as legitimacy, power and urgency and the stakeholders’ willingness to cooperate are more important for stakeholder salience than company- and product-related characteristics. Moreover, the results confirm the findings of a recent study of Spanish man-
ufacturing firms by Gago and Antolín.