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Do Environmental Audits Improve Long-term Compliance? Evidence from Manufacturing Facilities in Michigan

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  • Sarah L. Stafford

    (Department of Economics, College of William and Mary)

Abstract

The role of compliance assistance in the U.S. EPA’s overall enforcement strategy has been quite variable over the past decade and a half, increasing in prominence under the Bush administration and now slated for significantly reduced funding under the Obama administration. While many theoretical models and anecdotal evidence suggest that compliance assistance should play some role in a comprehensive enforcement strategy, to date there has been relatively little empirical evidence on the actual effectiveness of existing compliance assistance programs. To help inform the debate over the appropriate use of compliance assistance, this paper uses data on hazardous waste generators nationwide to assess the effect of federal compliance assistance programs in improving compliance with hazardous waste regulations. The paper also conducts a direct empirical analysis of the relationship between traditional enforcement tools and compliance assistance. The results show that federal compliance assistance efforts do increase compliance, but the evidence does not suggest any specific relationship between traditional enforcement and compliance assistance. Also, while states do not appear to substitute federal compliance assistance for traditional enforcement, state compliance assistance programs do appear to decrease the likelihood of inspections among the smallest hazardous waste generators.

Suggested Citation

  • Sarah L. Stafford, 2011. "Do Environmental Audits Improve Long-term Compliance? Evidence from Manufacturing Facilities in Michigan," Working Papers 117, Department of Economics, College of William and Mary.
    • Handle: RePEc:cwm:wpaper:117
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    File URL: http://economics.wm.edu/wp/cwm_wp117.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Sarah L. Stafford, 2007. "Should you turn yourself in? The consequences of environmental self-policing," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(2), pages 305-326.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Mary F. Evans & Lirong Liu & Sarah L. Stafford, 2012. "Firm Decision-making Structure and Compliance with Environmental Regulations: Evidence from Environmental Auditing," Working Papers 124, Department of Economics, College of William and Mary.
    2. Earnhart Dietrich & Harrington Donna Ramirez & Glicksman Robert, 2021. "The Effects of Enforcement on Corporate Environmental Performance: The Role of Perceived Fairness," Review of Law & Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 17(1), pages 71-118, March.
    3. Sarah Dolfin & Nan Maxwell & Ankita Patnaik, "undated". "WHD Compliance Strategies: Directions for Future Research," Mathematica Policy Research Reports b7a5ca876e0b448f9b9c0850e, Mathematica Policy Research.
    4. Evans, Mary F. & Liu, Lirong & Stafford, Sarah L., 2015. "Standardization and the impacts of voluntary program participation: Evidence from environmental auditing," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 10-21.
    5. da Silva Rocha, André Barreira & Salomão, Gabriel Meyer, 2019. "Environmental policy regulation and corporate compliance in evolutionary game models with well-mixed and structured populations," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 279(2), pages 486-501.
    6. Ma, Xin & Fan, Di & Zhou, Yi & Yang, Cheng-Hu, 2021. "The impact of inspection on the sustainable production strategy: Environmental violation and abatement in emerging markets," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    7. Earnhart, Dietrich H. & Glicksman, Robert L., 2015. "Coercive vs. cooperative enforcement: Effect of enforcement approach on environmental management," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 135-146.
    8. Earnhart, Dietrich & Mark Leonard, J., 2016. "Environmental audits and signaling: The role of firm organizational structure," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 1-22.
    9. Earnhart, Dietrich & Harrington, Donna Ramirez, 2014. "Effect of audits on the extent of compliance with wastewater discharge limits," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 243-261.
    10. Zach Raff & Dietrich Earnhart, 2020. "The effect of environmental enforcement on labor: environmental workers and production workers," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 118-133, April.
    11. Sarah Dolfin & Nan Maxwell & Alix Gould-Werth & Armando Yañez & Jonah Deutsch & Libby Hendrix, "undated". "Compliance Strategies Evaluation Literature and Database Review," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 92ddb450d98b4b128f4fd1442, Mathematica Policy Research.
    12. Dietrich Earnhart, 2013. "Effect of Systems to Manage Environmental Aspects on Environmental Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(6), pages 1-32, June.

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