IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bpj/rlecon/v5y2009i1n17.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Firms' Motivations for Environmental Overcompliance

Author

Listed:
  • Wu JunJie

    (Oregon State University; ENTRIX Inc.)

  • Wirkkala Teresa M.

    (Oregon State University; ENTRIX Inc.)

Abstract

This article examines firms' motivations for environmental overcompliance. A theoretical model is developed to identify the internal and external factors that influence firms' decisions for environmental overcompliance. An empirical analysis is then conducted to determine the statistical significance of those factors using the primary data collected in an industrial survey in Oregon. The results suggest that diverse factors influence business decisions for environmental overcompliance, including market forces, regulatory pressures, and personal values and beliefs of upper management toward environmental stewardship.

Suggested Citation

  • Wu JunJie & Wirkkala Teresa M., 2009. "Firms' Motivations for Environmental Overcompliance," Review of Law & Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 5(1), pages 399-433, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:bpj:rlecon:v:5:y:2009:i:1:n:17
    DOI: 10.2202/1555-5879.1293
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.2202/1555-5879.1293
    Download Restriction: For access to full text, subscription to the journal or payment for the individual article is required.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2202/1555-5879.1293?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Arora Seema & Cason Timothy N., 1995. "An Experiment in Voluntary Environmental Regulation: Participation in EPA's 33/50 Program," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 271-286, May.
    2. Nakamura, Masao & Takahashi, Takuya & Vertinsky, Ilan, 2001. "Why Japanese Firms Choose to Certify: A Study of Managerial Responses to Environmental Issues," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 23-52, July.
    3. Anton, W.R.Q.Wilma Rose Q. & Deltas, George & Khanna, Madhu, 2004. "Incentives for environmental self-regulation and implications for environmental performance," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 632-654, July.
    4. John D. McClelland & John K. Horowitz, 1999. "The Costs of Water Pollution Regulation in the Pulp and Paper Industry," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 75(2), pages 220-232.
    5. Robert Innes & Joseph J Bial, 2002. "Inducing Innovation in the Environmental Technology of Oligopolistic Firms," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(3), pages 265-287, September.
    6. Konar, Shameek & Cohen, Mark A., 1997. "Information As Regulation: The Effect of Community Right to Know Laws on Toxic Emissions," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 109-124, January.
    7. Kozo Horiuchi & Masao Nakamura, 2001. "Environmental Issues and Japanese Firms," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Masao Nakamura (ed.), The Japanese Business and Economic System, chapter 13, pages 364-384, Palgrave Macmillan.
    8. Alberto Cavaliere, 2000. "Overcompliance and Voluntary Agreements," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 17(2), pages 195-202, October.
    9. Maxwell, John W & Lyon, Thomas P & Hackett, Steven C, 2000. "Self-Regulation and Social Welfare: The Political Economy of Corporate Environmentalism," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 43(2), pages 583-617, October.
    10. Segerson, Kathleen & Miceli, Thomas J., 1998. "Voluntary Environmental Agreements: Good or Bad News for Environmental Protection?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 109-130, September.
    11. Shimshack, Jay P. & Ward, Michael B., 2008. "Enforcement and over-compliance," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 55(1), pages 90-105, January.
    12. J Videras & A Alberini, 2000. "The appeal of voluntary environmental programs: which firms participate and why?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 18(4), pages 449-460, October.
    13. Wu, JunJie & Babcock, Bruce A., 1999. "The Relative Efficiency of Voluntary vs Mandatory Environmental Regulations," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 158-175, September.
    14. Salop, Steven C & Scheffman, David T, 1983. "Raising Rivals' Costs," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 73(2), pages 267-271, May.
    15. Khanna, Madhu & Damon, Lisa A., 1999. "EPA's Voluntary 33/50 Program: Impact on Toxic Releases and Economic Performance of Firms," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 1-25, January.
    16. Pargal, Sheoli & Wheeler, David, 1996. "Informal Regulation of Industrial Pollution in Developing Countries: Evidence from Indonesia," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(6), pages 1314-1327, December.
    17. Tom Tietenberg, 1998. "Disclosure Strategies for Pollution Control," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 11(3), pages 587-602, April.
    18. Henriques, Irene & Sadorsky, Perry, 1996. "The Determinants of an Environmentally Responsive Firm: An Empirical Approach," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 381-395, May.
    19. Anna Alberini & Kathleen Segerson, 2002. "Assessing Voluntary Programs to Improve Environmental Quality," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 22(1), pages 157-184, June.
    20. Robert Innes & Abdoul G. Sam, 2008. "Voluntary Pollution Reductions and the Enforcement of Environmental Law: An Empirical Study of the 33/50 Program," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 51(2), pages 271-296, May.
    21. Dasgupta, Susmita & Hettige, Hemamala & Wheeler, David, 2000. "What Improves Environmental Compliance? Evidence from Mexican Industry," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 39-66, January.
    22. Stefan Lutz & Thomas P. Lyon & John W. Maxwell, 2000. "Quality Leadership when Regulatory Standards are Forthcoming," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(3), pages 331-348, September.
    23. Innes, Robert & Bial, Joseph J, 2002. "Inducing Innovation in the Environmental Technology of Oligopolistic Firms," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(3), pages 265-287, September.
    24. Mark A. Cohen, 1997. "Firm response to environmental regulation and environmental pressures," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(6), pages 417-420.
    25. Magat, Wesley A & Viscusi, W Kip, 1990. "Effectiveness of the EPA's Regulatory Enforcement: The Case of Industrial Effluent Standards," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(2), pages 331-360, October.
    26. Lyon, Thomas P. & Maxwell, John W., 2003. "Self-regulation, taxation and public voluntary environmental agreements," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(7-8), pages 1453-1486, August.
    27. Maloney, Michael T & McCormick, Robert E, 1982. "A Positive Theory of Environmental Quality Regulation," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 25(1), pages 99-123, April.
    28. Laplante, Benoit & Rilstone, Paul, 1996. "Environmental Inspections and Emissions of the Pulp and Paper Industry in Quebec," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 19-36, July.
    29. Kunce, Mitch & Shogren, Jason F., 2002. "On Environmental Federalism and Direct Emission Control," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 238-245, March.
    30. Matthew Potoski & Aseem Prakash, 2005. "Green Clubs and Voluntary Governance: ISO 14001 and Firms' Regulatory Compliance," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 49(2), pages 235-248, April.
    31. Seema Arora & Timothy N. Cason, 1996. "Why Do Firms Volunteer to Exceed Environmental Regulations? Understanding Participation in EPA's 33/50 Program," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 72(4), pages 413-432.
    32. Lutz, Stefan & Lyon, Thomas P & Maxwell, John W, 2000. "Quality Leadership When Regulatory Standards Are Forthcoming," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(3), pages 331-348, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Julia Wolf, 2013. "Improving the Sustainable Development of Firms: The Role of Employees," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(2), pages 92-108, February.
    2. Lurie, Susan & Bennett, Drew E. & Duncan, Sally & Gosnell, Hannah & Hunter, Maria Lewis & Morzillo, Anita T. & Moseley, Cassandra & Nielsen-Pincus, Max & Parker, Robert & White, Eric M., 2013. "PES marketplace development at the local scale: The Eugene Water and Electric Board as a local watershed services marketplace driver," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 6(C), pages 93-103.
    3. Arguedas, Carmen & Rousseau, Sandra, 2012. "Learning about compliance under asymmetric information," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 55-73.
    4. David Ervin & JunJie Wu & Madhu Khanna & Cody Jones & Teresa Wirkkala, 2013. "Motivations and Barriers to Corporate Environmental Management," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(6), pages 390-409, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cody Jones, 2013. "Moving Beyond Profit: Expanding Research to Better Understand Business Environmental Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(6), pages 1-29, June.
    2. Madhu Khanna, 2001. "Non‐Mandatory Approaches to Environmental Protection," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(3), pages 291-324, July.
    3. Rinaldo Brau & C. Carraro, 2004. "The economic analysis of voluntary approaches to environmental protection. A survey," Working Paper CRENoS 200420, Centre for North South Economic Research, University of Cagliari and Sassari, Sardinia.
    4. Anton, Wilma Rose Q., 2005. "The Choice of Management Practices: What Determines the Design of an Environmental Management System?," 2005 Annual meeting, July 24-27, Providence, RI 19503, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    5. David Ervin & JunJie Wu & Madhu Khanna & Cody Jones & Teresa Wirkkala, 2013. "Motivations and Barriers to Corporate Environmental Management," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(6), pages 390-409, September.
    6. Abdoul Sam, 2010. "Impact of government-sponsored pollution prevention practices on environmental compliance and enforcement: evidence from a sample of US manufacturing facilities," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 266-286, June.
    7. Roeland Bracke & Tom Verbeke, 2007. "What Distinguishes EMAS Participants? An Exploration of Company Characteristics," Working Papers 2007.37, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    8. Yu Matsuno, 2007. "Pollution control agreements in Japan: conditions for their success," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 8(2), pages 103-141, June.
    9. Sam, Abdoul G., 2009. "Impact of Government-Sponsored Pollution Prevention Practices on Environmental Compliance and Enforcement: Evidence from a Sample of US Manufacturing Facilities," 2009 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, 2009, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 49306, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    10. Anna Alberini & Kathleen Segerson, 2002. "Assessing Voluntary Programs to Improve Environmental Quality," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 22(1), pages 157-184, June.
    11. Eva Horváthová, 2020. "Why Do Firms Voluntarily Adopt Environmental Management Systems? The Case of the Czech Republic," Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, Mendel University Press, vol. 68(1), pages 157-168.
    12. Yu Matsuno, 2007. "Pollution control agreements in Japan: conditions for their success," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 8(2), pages 103-141, June.
    13. Brouhle, Keith & Griffiths, Charles & Wolverton, Ann, 2009. "Evaluating the role of EPA policy levers: An examination of a voluntary program and regulatory threat in the metal-finishing industry," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 57(2), pages 166-181, March.
    14. Bracke, Roeland & Verbeke, Tom & Dejonckheere, Veerle, 2007. "What Distinguishes EMAS Participants? An Exploration of Company Characteristics," Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Management Working Papers 9332, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    15. Jinji, Naoto & 神事, 直人, 2005. "Strategic Environmental and Trade Policies with Corporate Environmentalism," Discussion Papers 2004-10, Graduate School of Economics, Hitotsubashi University.
    16. Kathleen Segerson, 2013. "Voluntary Approaches to Environmental Protection and Resource Management," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 5(1), pages 161-180, June.
    17. Blackman, Allen & Guerrero, Santiago, 2012. "What drives voluntary eco-certification in Mexico?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 256-268.
    18. Robert Innes & Abdoul G. Sam, 2008. "Voluntary Pollution Reductions and the Enforcement of Environmental Law: An Empirical Study of the 33/50 Program," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 51(2), pages 271-296, May.
    19. Puller, Steven L., 2006. "The strategic use of innovation to influence regulatory standards," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 690-706, November.
    20. Blackman, Allen, 2009. "Alternative Pollution Control Policies in Developing Countries: Informal, Informational, and Voluntary," RFF Working Paper Series dp-09-14-efd, Resources for the Future.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bpj:rlecon:v:5:y:2009:i:1:n:17. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.degruyter.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.