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Civil Regulation, the Environment and the Compliance Orientations of SMEs

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  • Gary Lynch-Wood
  • David Williamson

Abstract

The article explores the impact of civil regulation on the environmental behaviour of SMEs. It shows that although civil regulatory pressures are generally subdued, and that conventional regulation continues to be an important driver of behaviour, there are circumstances where civil pressures nevertheless produce a ‘regulatory’ stimulus. Where they do, it appears that civil regulatory pressures tend to derive from stakeholders pursuing relatively narrow self-interest (rather than public interest) mandates; and they normally target particular issues rather than ‘social responsibility’ in any broad sense. SME responses typically take the form of compliance-reinforcing (rather than beyond compliance) measures. For SMEs, it is suggested that, in some circumstances, civil regulation provides a bespoke regulatory mechanism which is more likely to bring about changes in basic practices on narrow issues. It can also be seen as producing a particular type of consensual micro-social contract and public interest service. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Gary Lynch-Wood & David Williamson, 2014. "Civil Regulation, the Environment and the Compliance Orientations of SMEs," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 125(3), pages 467-480, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:125:y:2014:i:3:p:467-480
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-013-1925-6
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    Cited by:

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    2. Gallemore, Caleb & Guisinger, Amy & Kruuse, Mikkel & Ruysschaert, Denis & Jespersen, Kristjan, 2018. "Escaping the “Teenage” Years: The Politics of Rigor and the Evolution of Private Environmental Standards," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 76-87.
    3. Wu, Bao & Fang, Hanqing & Jacoby, Gady & Li, Geling & Wu, Zhenyu, 2022. "Environmental regulations and innovation for sustainability? Moderating effect of political connections," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    4. Joseph Bakos & Michele Siu & Adalberto Orengo & Narges Kasiri, 2020. "An analysis of environmental sustainability in small & medium‐sized enterprises: Patterns and trends," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 1285-1296, March.
    5. Leon Guillén & Afcha Sergio & Chu Manuel, 2022. "Research on social responsibility of small and medium enterprises: a bibliometric analysis," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 72(3), pages 857-909, September.

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