Eco‐environmental footprint and value chains of technology multinational enterprises operating in emerging economies

Drawing from signaling theory and the multinational global value chain (GVC) literature, this study examines a critical question “does the adoption of eco‐friendly technology improve firm value?”. In addressing this question, we test a panel dataset for 633 technology multinational enterprises (TMNEs) operating in 15 emerging economies and covering 10 years from 2009 to 2019. This paper provides new insight into the increasing CO 2 emission concerns, especially from the emerging economies and household consumption perspectives. Our study reveals that the adoption of eco‐friendly technology by TMNE's GVC operations will increase firm value and increase total environmental spending. Consequently, CO 2 footprints in emerging countries will be reduced. Our findings are robust, controlling for several firm‐level and country‐level variables in our analysis. The practical, managerial, and policy implications of our study are discussed.