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The private costs and benefits of environmental self‐regulation: which firms have most to gain?

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  • Natalie Stoeckl

Abstract

A (correctly designed) voluntary self‐regulatory scheme can – in theory – improve social welfare if the benefits to society outweigh the costs. However, businesses may not choose to participate in a voluntary scheme if their private benefits do not outweigh their costs; external benefits are irrelevant to the profit maximizing firm. This paper reviews literature on self‐regulation, primarily focusing on factors that influence the net private benefits of environmental programmes. The literature is summarized in a manner that allows one to identify characteristics of firms that are most likely to accrue positive net benefit from environmental programmes, and to determine ways in which self‐regulatory bodies might raise those benefits, thereby increasing participation rates. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

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  • Natalie Stoeckl, 2004. "The private costs and benefits of environmental self‐regulation: which firms have most to gain?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(3), pages 135-155, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:13:y:2004:i:3:p:135-155
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.405
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    3. Kristina Söderholm, 2009. "Environmental awakening in the Swedish pulp and paper industry: pollution resistance and firm responses in the Early 20th century," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(1), pages 32-42, January.
    4. Surender Kumar & Shivananda Shetty, 2018. "Does environmental performance improve market valuation of the firm: evidence from Indian market," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 20(2), pages 241-260, April.
    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. Diego A. Vazquez-Brust & José Antonio Plaza-Úbeda, 2021. "What Characteristics Do the Firms Have That Go Beyond Compliance with Regulation in Environmental Protection? A Multiple Discriminant Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-27, February.
    7. Walid Ben‐Amar & Mathieu Gomes & Hania Khursheed & Sylvain Marsat, 2022. "Climate change exposure and internal carbon pricing adoption," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(7), pages 2854-2870, November.
    8. Jialu Ma & Jeffrey Kuo, 2021. "Environmental self‐regulation for sustainable development: Can internal carbon pricing enhance financial performance?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(8), pages 3517-3527, December.
    9. Cody Jones, 2013. "Moving Beyond Profit: Expanding Research to Better Understand Business Environmental Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(6), pages 1-29, June.
    10. Blanco, Ester & Lozano, Javier & Rey-Maquieira, Javier, 2009. "A dynamic approach to voluntary environmental contributions in tourism," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 104-114, November.

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