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Do Nonprofits Encourage Environmental Compliance?

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  • Laura E. Grant
  • Katherine K. Grooms

Abstract

When states incompletely monitor or enforce, environmental nonprofits step in. We estimate the impact of these groups on industrial compliance with the Clean Water Act, as well as their effect on government monitoring and enforcement. We geographically link annual panel data on facility inspection rates, pollution violations, and enforcement actions with information about nearby nonprofit watershed groups. In addition to two-stage least squares estimation for endogenous efforts of nonprofits, governments, and firms, we implement a recent advance in nonlinear methods with improved fit for our fractional dependent variables. As the number of nonprofit groups increase, government decreases inspections and firms have fewer severe effluent violations. The nonprofits’ oversight substitutes for government efforts by interacting directly with facilities rather than putting pressure on regulatory mechanisms. The interventions by these environmeVntal groups encourage compliance and, based on theory, improve efficiency.

Suggested Citation

  • Laura E. Grant & Katherine K. Grooms, 2017. "Do Nonprofits Encourage Environmental Compliance?," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 4(S1), pages 261-288.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jaerec:doi:10.1086/692508
    DOI: 10.1086/692508
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    Cited by:

    1. Lu, Xun & Che, Yuyuan & Rejesus, Roderick M. & Goodwin, Barry K. & Ghosh, Sujit K. & Paudel, Jayash, 2023. "Unintended environmental benefits of crop insurance: Nitrogen and phosphorus in water bodies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 204(PA).
    2. Marin Skidmore & Tihitina Andarge & Jeremy Foltz, 2023. "Effectiveness of local regulations on nonpoint source pollution: Evidence from Wisconsin dairy farms," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 105(5), pages 1333-1364, October.
    3. Peter Maniloff & Daniel T. Kaffine, 2020. "If you see (or smell) something, say something: Citizen complaints and regulation of oil and gas wells," Working Papers 2020-01, Colorado School of Mines, Division of Economics and Business.
    4. Raff, Zach & Earnhart, Dietrich, 2019. "The effects of Clean Water Act enforcement on environmental employment," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 1-17.
    5. Yaru Tang & Mengdi Liu & Fan Xia & Bing Zhang, 2024. "Informal regulation by nongovernmental organizations enhances corporate compliance: Evidence from a nationwide randomized controlled trial in China," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(1), pages 234-257, January.
    6. Jayash Paudel & Christine L. Crago, 2021. "Environmental Externalities from Agriculture: Evidence from Water Quality in the United States," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 103(1), pages 185-210, January.
    7. Aaron A. Elrod & Serkan Karadas & Katherine C. Theyson, 2019. "The effect of gubernatorial political parties on monitoring and enforcement of federal environmental regulation: evidence from the Clean Water Act," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 21(2), pages 171-202, April.
    8. Zach Raff, 2023. "Identifying the regulator’s objective: Does political support matter?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 194(3), pages 277-295, March.
    9. Lopamudra Chakraborti, 2020. "Effects of Water Quality Monitoring on Plant-Level Pollution: Evidence from the Clean Water Act," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 96(3), pages 349-365.
    10. Zach Raff & Andrew Meyer, 2022. "CAFOs and Surface Water Quality: Evidence from Wisconsin," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 104(1), pages 161-189, January.
    11. Matthew Doyle & Corrado Di Maria & Ian A. Lange & Emiliya Lazarova, 2016. "Electoral Incentives and Firm Behavior: Evidence from U.S. Power Plant Pollution Abatement," CESifo Working Paper Series 6127, CESifo.
    12. Evans, Mary F. & Stafford, Sarah L., 2019. "The Clean Air Act Watch List and federal oversight of state enforcement efforts," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 170-184.
    13. Faraz Usmani & Marc Jeuland & Subhrendu Pattanayak, 2018. "NGOs and the effectiveness of interventions," WIDER Working Paper Series 59, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    14. Faraz Usmani & Marc Jeuland & Subhrendu K. Pattanayak, 2018. "NGOs and the effectiveness of interventions," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2018-59, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

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