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Firm strategy and the Canadian Voluntary Climate Challenge and Registry (VCR)

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  • Keith Brouhle
  • Donna Ramirez Harrington

Abstract

The Canadian VCR is a climate change mitigation program that relies on firms' desire to signal environmental responsibility to external stakeholders through voluntary information disclosure. We analyze indicators of strategic behavior through three measures of engagement with the VCR program (annual participation behavior, quality of action plans and repeat participation), and test for differences in these measures among firms subjected to different regulatory climates that arise over time, across provinces and across economic sectors. Our findings suggest an increased perception of a regulatory threat in later years, as evidenced by an increase in participation rates, higher quality of action plans and higher rates of repeat participation. We also find higher levels of engagement with the VCR program in provinces with large petroleum (Alberta) and manufacturing (Ontario) industries and that have established provincial level greenhouse gas reporting mechanisms, and in certain sectors such as petroleum, electric utilities and to some extent services. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

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  • Keith Brouhle & Donna Ramirez Harrington, 2009. "Firm strategy and the Canadian Voluntary Climate Challenge and Registry (VCR)," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(6), pages 360-379, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:18:y:2009:i:6:p:360-379
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.604
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    4. Zhanna A. Mingaleva & Yurii V. Starkov, 2020. "The System of Emission Taxation Analyzed: An Institutional Approach," Finansovyj žhurnal — Financial Journal, Financial Research Institute, Moscow 125375, Russia, issue 2, pages 25-38, April.
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    6. Doda, Baran & Gennaioli, Caterina & Gouldson, Andy & Grover, David & Sullivan, Rory, 2015. "Are corporate carbon management practices reducing corporate carbon emissions?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 60816, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
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    8. Dechezleprêtre, Antoine & Gennaioli, Caterina & Martin, Ralf & Muûls, Mirabelle & Stoerk, Thomas, 2022. "Searching for carbon leaks in multinational companies," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    9. Juliano Almeida Faria & José Célio Silveira Andrade & Sônia Maria Silva Gomes, 2018. "The determinants mostly disclosed by companies that are members of the Carbon Disclosure Project," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 23(7), pages 995-1018, October.
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    11. Konstantinos Evangelinos & Ioannis Nikolaou & Walter Leal Filho, 2015. "The Effects of Climate Change Policy on the Business Community: A Corporate Environmental Accounting Perspective," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 22(5), pages 257-270, September.
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