IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecanpo/v64y2019icp41-53.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Political economy of voluntary approaches: A lesson from environmental policies in Japan

Author

Listed:
  • Arimura, Toshi H.
  • Kaneko, Shinji
  • Managi, Shunsuke
  • Shinkuma, Takayoshi
  • Yamamoto, Masashi
  • Yoshida, Yuichiro

Abstract

In this paper, we attempt to identify the reasons behind the differences in environmental policy between Japan and other developed countries, particularly the US. Japan’s environmental policy is unique in that voluntary approaches have been taken to reduce total emissions. This strategy is quite different from the traditional approach of heavy-handed regulation. In Japan, voluntary approaches are conducted through negotiations with polluters. The idea behind this type of voluntary approaches is that the government can induce polluters to abate emissions voluntarily by using light-handed regulations and the threat of heavy-handed regulations. The light-handed regulation is quite effective especially when it is costly to introduce heavy-handed regulations, although the negotiations are difficult to conduct when the number of stakeholders is large. To strengthen our analysis, we provide some examples of Japanese environmental policies which are successful and the ones that are not.

Suggested Citation

  • Arimura, Toshi H. & Kaneko, Shinji & Managi, Shunsuke & Shinkuma, Takayoshi & Yamamoto, Masashi & Yoshida, Yuichiro, 2019. "Political economy of voluntary approaches: A lesson from environmental policies in Japan," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 41-53.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecanpo:v:64:y:2019:i:c:p:41-53
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eap.2019.07.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0313592619301225
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eap.2019.07.003?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. Glachant, Matthieu, 2007. "Non-binding voluntary agreements," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 32-48, July.
    2. 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.
    3. Michiyuki Yagi & Shunsuke Managi, 2011. "Catch limits, capacity utilization and cost reduction in Japanese fishery management," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 42(5), pages 577-592, September.
    4. Michiyuki Yagi & Shunsuke Managi, 2011. "Catch limits, capacity utilization and cost reduction in Japanese fishery management," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 42(5), pages 577-592, September.
    5. Manuel Frondel & Jens Horbach & Klaus Rennings, 2007. "End‐of‐pipe or cleaner production? An empirical comparison of environmental innovation decisions across OECD countries," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(8), pages 571-584, December.
    6. Sarker, Ashutosh & Ikeda, Toru & Abe, Takaki & Inoue, Ken, 2015. "Design principles for managing coastal fisheries commons in present-day Japan," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 32-38.
    7. Ryo Fujikura & Mikiyasu Nakayama & Manami Fujikura, 2016. "Formulation Process of Diet Law and Cabinet Law in Japan – A Comparative Study of Basic Environmental Law and Basic Law on Biodiversity –," International Journal of Social Science Research, Macrothink Institute, vol. 4(2), pages 78-97, September.
    8. 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.
    9. Akira Hibiki & Shunsuke Managi, 2010. "Environmental Information Provision, Market Valuation, and Firm Incentives: An Empirical Study of the Japanese PRTR System," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 86(2), pages 382-393.
    10. Global Energy Assessment Writing Team,, 2012. "Global Energy Assessment," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521182935.
    11. Fleckinger, Pierre & Glachant, Matthieu, 2011. "Negotiating a voluntary agreement when firms self-regulate," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 41-52, July.
    12. 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.
    13. W. Kip Viscusi & Joel Huber & Jason Bell, 2012. "Alternative Policies to Increase Recycling of Plastic Water Bottles in the United States," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 6(2), pages 190-211, July.
    14. Global Energy Assessment Writing Team,, 2012. "Global Energy Assessment," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107005198.
    15. Makoto Sugino & Toshi Arimura, 2011. "The effects of voluntary action plans on energy-saving investment: an empirical study of the Japanese manufacturing sector," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 13(3), pages 237-257, 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. Bu, Maoliang & Qiao, Zhenzi & Liu, Beibei, 2020. "Voluntary environmental regulation and firm innovation in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 10-18.
    2. Toshi H. Arimura & Maosheng Duan & Hyungna Oh, 2021. "EEPS special issue on “Carbon Pricing in East Asia”," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 23(3), pages 495-500, July.
    3. Donatella Baiardi & Maria Gaia Soana, 2021. "Macroeconomic and microeconomic environmental and energy policies: are they effective for improving the environmental performance of listed companies?," Working Papers 478, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised Aug 2021.
    4. Donatella Baiardi & Maria Gaia Soana, 2021. "Macroeconomic and microeconomic environmental and energy policies: are they effective for improving environmental performance of listed companies?," Working Paper series 21-17, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis.
    5. Weijia Zhuo, 2023. "Environmental regulation and corporate sustainability: Evidence from green innovation," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(4), pages 1723-1737, July.
    6. Tsalis, Thomas A. & Nikolaou, Ioannis E. & Konstantakopoulou, Fotini & Zhang, Ying & Evangelinos, Konstantinos I., 2020. "Evaluating the corporate environmental profile by analyzing corporate social responsibility reports," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 63-75.
    7. Lu, Guanyu & Sugino, Makoto & Arimura, Toshi H. & Horie, Tetsuya, 2022. "Success and failure of the voluntary action plan: Disaggregated sector decomposition analysis of energy-related CO2 emissions in Japan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    8. Eunjung Lim, 2021. "A Comparative Study of Power Mixes for Green Growth: How South Korea and Japan See Nuclear Energy Differently," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-15, 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. Toshi H.Arimura & Shinji Kaneko & Shunsuke Managi & Takayoshi Shinkuma & Masashi Yamamoto & Yuichiro Yoshida, 2016. "Political Economy of Voluntary Approaches: A Lesson from Environmental Policies," Working Papers e107, Tokyo Center for Economic Research.
    2. Nicholas Powers & Allen Blackman & Thomas Lyon & Urvashi Narain, 2011. "Does Disclosure Reduce Pollution? Evidence from India’s Green Rating Project," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 50(1), pages 131-155, September.
    3. Blackman, Allen, 2009. "Alternative Pollution Control Policies in Developing Countries: Informal, Informational, and Voluntary," RFF Working Paper Series dp-09-10, Resources for the Future.
    4. Nicholas, Powers & Blackman, Allen & Lyon, Thomas P. & Narain, Urvashi, 2008. "Does Disclosure Reduce Pollution? Evidence from India’s Green Rating Project," RFF Working Paper Series dp-08-27-efd, Resources for the Future.
    5. Anne-Sarah Chiambretto & Hubert Stahn, 2017. "Voluntary Management of Fisheries under an Uncertain Background Legislative Threat," Working Papers halshs-01500543, HAL.
    6. Pierre Fleckinger & Matthieu Glachant, 2009. "La responsabilité sociale de l’entreprise et les accords volontaires sont-ils complémentaires ?," Économie et Prévision, Programme National Persée, vol. 190(4), pages 95-105.
    7. Takuro Miyamoto, 2016. "Why regulators adopt voluntary programs: a theoretical analysis of voluntary pollutant reduction programs," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 18(4), pages 599-623, October.
    8. Madhu Khanna, 2001. "Non‐Mandatory Approaches to Environmental Protection," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(3), pages 291-324, July.
    9. Fleckinger, Pierre & Glachant, Matthieu, 2011. "Negotiating a voluntary agreement when firms self-regulate," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 41-52, July.
    10. Allen Blackman & Eduardo Uribe & Bart Hoof & Thomas Lyon, 2013. "Voluntary environmental agreements in developing countries: the Colombian experience," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 46(4), pages 335-385, December.
    11. 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.
    12. Eun Kyung Jang & Mi Sun Park & Tae Woo Roh & Ki Joo Han, 2015. "Policy Instruments for Eco-Innovation in Asian Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(9), pages 1-29, September.
    13. Pang, Yu, 2018. "Profitable pollution abatement? A worker productivity perspective," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 33-49.
    14. Thomas P. Lyon & Haitao Yin & Allen Blackman & Kris Wernstedt, 2018. "Voluntary Cleanup Programs for Brownfield Sites: A Theoretical Analysis," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 70(2), pages 297-322, June.
    15. Ryo Ishida & Takuro Miyamoto, 2014. "Does an Optimal Voluntary Approach Flexibly and Efficiently Control Emissions from Heterogeneous Firms?," Discussion papers ron257, Policy Research Institute, Ministry of Finance Japan.
    16. 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.
    17. Wu JunJie & Wirkkala Teresa M., 2009. "Firms' Motivations for Environmental Overcompliance," Review of Law & Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 5(1), pages 399-433, June.
    18. 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.
    19. Contreras, Gabriela & Bos, Jaap W.B. & Kleimeier, Stefanie, 2019. "Self-regulation in sustainable finance: The adoption of the Equator Principles," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 306-324.
    20. 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.

    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:eee:ecanpo:v:64:y:2019:i:c:p:41-53. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/economic-analysis-and-policy .

    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.