“Assessing the economic impacts of forest certification in Spain: A longitudinal study.”

Today, 85% of the country's certified forests are PEFC-certified. In this study, we tested whether PEFC forest certification leads to improved financial performance of companies.

With a longitudinal methodology, we analyzed turnover and economic profitability fluctuations between 2006-2019. The study found significant differences in economic profitability and turnover between certified and non-certified companies before but not after certification. However, a positive treatment effect between forest certification and improved financial performance could not be detected, suggesting that PEFC certification does not improve the financial performance of Spanish companies.