IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/inn/wpaper/2014-29.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Setting one voluntary standard in a heterogeneous Europe - EMAS, corruption and stringency of environmental regulations

Author

Listed:
  • Stefan Borsky
  • Esther Blanco

Abstract

This article addresses the mediating effect of corruption on the influence of stringency of environmental regulation on firms' voluntary environmental performance. Using panel data from adoption of the EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) across European Union countries from 1995 to 2011, we unveil a direct and an interacting effect of countries' corruption and regulatory stringency on the rate of adoption. First, stricter environmental regulation reduces the rate of EMAS certificates, thus supporting a crowding-out effect of mandatory regulation on voluntary action. Second, increased corruption reduces the rate of EMAS certificates. Third, the negative effect of stringency of regulation on EMAS certification rates is reinforced by corruption. In sum, these results suggest that previous studies address- ing the implications from stricter regulations on firms' voluntary action that abstract from corruption might underestimate the potential negative effect of stringency of regulation on firms' voluntary action.

Suggested Citation

  • Stefan Borsky & Esther Blanco, 2014. "Setting one voluntary standard in a heterogeneous Europe - EMAS, corruption and stringency of environmental regulations," Working Papers 2014-29, Faculty of Economics and Statistics, Universität Innsbruck.
    • Handle: RePEc:inn:wpaper:2014-29
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www2.uibk.ac.at/downloads/c4041030/wpaper/2014-29.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Toke S. Aidt, 2009. "Corruption, institutions, and economic development," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 25(2), pages 271-291, Summer.
    2. Polinsky, A. Mitchell & Shavell, Steven, 2001. "Corruption and optimal law enforcement," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(1), pages 1-24, July.
    3. 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.
    4. Mehmet Ugur, 2014. "Corruption'S Direct Effects On Per-Capita Income Growth: A Meta-Analysis," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 472-490, July.
    5. Gylfason, Thorvaldur, 2001. "Natural resources, education, and economic development," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(4-6), pages 847-859, May.
    6. Stefanie Haller & Liam Murphy, 2012. "Corporate Expenditure on Environmental Protection," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 51(2), pages 277-296, February.
    7. Pierre-Guillaume Méon & Khalid Sekkat, 2005. "Does corruption grease or sand the wheels of growth?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 122(1), pages 69-97, January.
    8. Stuart L. Hart & Gautam Ahuja, 1996. "Does It Pay To Be Green? An Empirical Examination Of The Relationship Between Emission Reduction And Firm Performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(1), pages 30-37, March.
    9. Kate Ivanova, 2007. "Corruption, illegal trade and compliance with the Montreal Protocol," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 38(4), pages 475-496, December.
    10. Johnstone, Nick & Labonne, Julien, 2009. "Why do manufacturing facilities introduce environmental management systems? Improving and/or signaling performance," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 719-730, January.
    11. Hausman, Jerry & Hall, Bronwyn H & Griliches, Zvi, 1984. "Econometric Models for Count Data with an Application to the Patents-R&D Relationship," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(4), pages 909-938, July.
    12. De Rosa, Donato & Gooroochurn, Nishaal & Görg, Holger, 2010. "Corruption and productivity firm-level evidence from the BEEPS survey," Kiel Working Papers 1632, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    13. Paul R. Portney, 2008. "The (Not So) New Corporate Social Responsibility: An Empirical Perspective," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 2(2), pages 261-275, Summer.
    14. Madhu Khanna & George Deltas & Donna Harrington, 2009. "Adoption of Pollution Prevention Techniques: The Role of Management Systems and Regulatory Pressures," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 44(1), pages 85-106, September.
    15. Richard Perkins & Eric Neumayer, 2004. "Europeanisation and the Uneven Convergence of Environmental Policy: Explaining the Geography of EMAS," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 22(6), pages 881-897, December.
    16. Amacher, Gregory S. & Ollikainen, Markku & Koskela, Erkki, 2012. "Corruption and forest concessions," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 92-104.
    17. Nick Johnstone & Pascale Scapecchi & Bjarne Ytterhus & Rolf Wolff, 2004. "The firm, environmental management and environmental measures: Lessons from a survey of European manufacturing firms," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(5), pages 685-707.
    18. Bracke, Roeland & Verbeke, Tom & Dejonkheere, Veerle, 2008. "What Determines the Decision to Implement EMAS? A European Firm Level Study," Working Papers 2008/15, Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel, Faculteit Economie en Management.
    19. Dal Bo, Ernesto & Rossi, Martin A., 2007. "Corruption and inefficiency: Theory and evidence from electric utilities," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(5-6), pages 939-962, June.
    20. Felipe Starosta Waldemar, 2012. "New Products and Corruption: Evidence from I ndian Firms," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 50(3), pages 268-284, September.
    21. Madhu Khanna, 2001. "Non‐Mandatory Approaches to Environmental Protection," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(3), pages 291-324, July.
    22. Kate Ivanova, 2011. "Corruption and air pollution in Europe," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 63(1), pages 49-70, January.
    23. Damania, Richard, 2002. "Environmental controls with corrupt bureaucrats," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 7(3), pages 407-427, July.
    24. Fisman, Raymond & Svensson, Jakob, 2007. "Are corruption and taxation really harmful to growth? Firm level evidence," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(1), pages 63-75, May.
    25. Roeland Bracke & Tom Verbeke & Veerle Dejonckheere, 2008. "What Determines the Decision to Implement EMAS? A European Firm Level Study," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 41(4), pages 499-518, December.
    26. Hallward-Driemeier, Mary, 2009. "Who survives ? the impact of corruption, competition and property rights across firms," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5084, The World Bank.
    27. 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.
    28. 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.
    29. 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.
    30. Paolo Mauro, 1995. "Corruption and Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 110(3), pages 681-712.
    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. George Halkos & Stylianos Nomikos & Antonis Skouloudis, 2021. "Revisiting ISO 14001 diffusion among national terrains: panel data evidence from OECD countries and the BRIICS," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 23(4), pages 781-803, October.

    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. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. Dzhumashev, Ratbek, 2014. "Corruption and growth: The role of governance, public spending, and economic development," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 202-215.
    4. Roeland Bracke & Tom Verbeke, 2007. "What Distinguishes EMAS Participants? An Exploration of Company Characteristics," Working Papers 2007.37, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    5. Ruba A. Aljarallah & Andrew Angus, 2020. "Dilemma of Natural Resource Abundance: A Case Study of Kuwait," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(1), pages 21582440198, January.
    6. Gaygysyz Ashyrov & Jaan Masso, 2020. "Does corruption affect local and foreign-owned companies differently? Evidence from the BEEPS survey," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(3), pages 306-329, April.
    7. 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).
    8. Madhu Khanna & Cameron Speir, 2013. "Motivations for Proactive Environmental Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(6), pages 1-29, June.
    9. Stefan Ambec & Paul Lanoie, 2009. "Performance environnementale et économique de l’entreprise," Économie et Prévision, Programme National Persée, vol. 190(4), pages 71-94.
    10. Luigi Aldieri & Cristian Barra & Nazzareno Ruggiero & Concetto Paolo Vinci, 2023. "Corruption and firms’ efficiency: international evidence using an instrumental variable approach," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 40(2), pages 731-759, July.
    11. Ruba Abdullah Aljarallah, 2020. "The Economic Impacts of Natural Resource Dependency in Gulf Countries," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 10(6), pages 36-52.
    12. Cummins, Mark & Gillanders, Robert, 2020. "Greasing the Turbines? Corruption and access to electricity in Africa," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    13. Cody Jones, 2013. "Moving Beyond Profit: Expanding Research to Better Understand Business Environmental Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(6), pages 1-29, June.
    14. Rahmouni, Mohieddine, 2023. "Corruption and corporate innovation in Tunisia during an economic downturn," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 314-326.
    15. Arminen, Heli & Menegaki, Angeliki N., 2019. "Corruption, climate and the energy-environment-growth nexus," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 621-634.
    16. Noel Johnson & William Ruger & Jason Sorens & Steven Yamarik, 2014. "Corruption, regulation, and growth: an empirical study of the United States," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 51-69, February.
    17. Estrin, Saul & Campos, Nauro & Proto, Eugenio, 2010. "Corruption as a Barrier to Entry: Theory and Evidence," CEPR Discussion Papers 8061, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    18. Chei Bukari & Emm anuel Atta Anaman, 2021. "Corruption and firm innovation: a grease or sand in the wheels of commerce? Evidence from lower-middle and upper-middle income economies," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 11(2), pages 267-302, June.
    19. 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.
    20. Finocchiaro Castro ,Massimo & Guccio, Calogero, 2023. "New wine in old bottle: Exploring the Corruption-inefficiency nexus using endogenous stochastic frontier approach," EconStor Preprints 275730, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Voluntary environmental action; environmental taxes; corruption; negative binomial regression;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F53 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Agreements and Observance; International Organizations
    • Q23 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Forestry
    • Q27 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Issues in International Trade
    • F18 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Environment
    • L15 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Information and Product Quality

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:inn:wpaper:2014-29. 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: Janette Walde (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/fuibkat.html .

    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.