The decarbonization of the manufacturing sector is needed to meet the climate goals set by the Paris agreement. Most research so far has focused on large firms. Yet, medium‐sized and mid‐cap firms also face increasing pressures to decarbonize, particularly in their role as suppliers of large firms. Prior research shows that these firms are very heterogeneous and that approaches to decarbonize are not adopted in isolation but within sets or configurations—hence, a detailed investigation of these configurations is fruitful to understand the multiplicity of responses to decarbonization. Such an understanding allows to develop an effective decarbonization policy for medium‐sized and mid‐cap firms and provide meaningful managerial advice. Using a latent‐profile analysis, our study identifies five distinct decarbonization types of medium‐sized firms in the German manufacturing sector that adopt a specific configuration of decarbonization strategies. These types can be described as decarbonization all‐rounders, internal supply chain decarbonizers, total supply chain decarbonizers, decarbonization laggards and decarbonization sceptics. A comparison of these five decarbonization types reveals significant differences in stakeholder pressures, green capabilities and green innovation as well as firm performance and (structural) firm characteristics.

中文翻译：

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制造业中型和中型企业的脱碳类型


为了实现《巴黎协定》设定的气候目标，制造业需要脱碳。迄今为止，大多数研究都集中在大公司上。然而，中型和中型企业也面临着越来越大的脱碳压力，特别是作为大企业的供应商。先前的研究表明，这些公司非常异质，脱碳方法不是孤立采用的，而是在集合或配置中采用的——因此，对这些配置的详细调查对于了解脱碳反应的多样性是富有成效的。这种理解有助于为中型和中型企业制定有效的脱碳政策，并提供有意义的管理建议。通过潜在概况分析，我们的研究确定了德国制造业中采用特定脱碳策略配置的中型企业的五种不同脱碳类型。这些类型可以被描述为脱碳全能者、内部供应链脱碳者、全供应链脱碳者、脱碳落后者和脱碳怀疑者。对这五种脱碳类型的比较揭示了利益相关者压力、绿色能力和绿色创新以及企业绩效和（结构性）企业特征的显着差异。