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Oppose, Support, or Hedge? Distributional Effects, Regulatory Pressure, and Business Strategy in Environmental Politics

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  • Jonas Meckling

Abstract

What explains the choice of corporate political strategy in environmental politics? Drawing on recent models of actor strategy formation in political economy, this article argues that basic material interests of firms are translated into strategies in the context of institutional environments. I advance a typological model that posits how distributional effects—positive versus negative—and perceived regulatory pressure—low versus high—interact in leading firms to adopt one of four ideal-type strategies: opposition, hedging, support, and non-participation. This article examines the model through the case of corporate strategies in the making of the European Union’s Emission Trading Scheme. The article contributes to theory-building on business strategy in environmental politics by offering a probabilistic explanatory model, and it flags hedging strategies as an increasingly prevalent form of business behavior.

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  • Jonas Meckling, 2015. "Oppose, Support, or Hedge? Distributional Effects, Regulatory Pressure, and Business Strategy in Environmental Politics," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 15(2), pages 19-37, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:glenvp:v:14:y:2014:i:4:p:19-37
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    Cited by:

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    2. Timothy Fraser & Pinar Temocin, 2021. "Grassroots vs. greenhouse: the role of environmental organizations in reducing carbon emissions," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 169(3), pages 1-21, December.
    3. Christian Downie, 2017. "Fighting for King Coal’s Crown: Business Actors in the US Coal and Utility Industries," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 17(1), pages 21-39, February.
    4. Daniel Rosenbloom & Adrian Rinscheid, 2020. "Deliberate decline: An emerging frontier for the study and practice of decarbonization," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(6), November.
    5. Jonas Meckling, 2019. "Governing renewables: Policy feedback in a global energy transition," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 37(2), pages 317-338, March.
    6. Naef, Alain, 2022. "Shareholder engagement for climate change: Lessons from the ExxonMobil vs Engine No.1 proxy battle," SocArXiv 3b5d4, Center for Open Science.
    7. Zola Berger‐Schmitz & Douglas George & Cameron Hindal & Richard Perkins & Maria Travaille, 2023. "What explains firms' net zero adoption, strategy and response?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(8), pages 5583-5601, December.
    8. Federica Genovese & Endre Tvinnereim, 2019. "Who opposes climate regulation? Business preferences for the European emission trading scheme," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 511-542, September.
    9. Alexander Ovodenko, 2016. "Governing Oligopolies: Global Regimes and Market Structure," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 16(3), pages 106-126, August.
    10. Irja Vormedal & Jonas Meckling, 2024. "How foes become allies: the shifting role of business in climate politics," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 57(1), pages 101-124, March.
    11. Sanjay Patnaik, 2020. "Emissions permit allocation and strategic firm behavior: Evidence from the oil sector in the European Union emissions trading scheme," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 976-995, March.
    12. Daniel Witte, 2020. "Business for Climate: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis of Policy Support from Transnational Companies," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 20(4), pages 167-191, Autumn.
    13. Robert Brulle & Christian Downie, 2022. "Following the money: trade associations, political activity and climate change," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 175(3), pages 1-19, December.
    14. Meckling, Jonas & Nahm, Jonas, 2019. "The politics of technology bans: Industrial policy competition and green goals for the auto industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 470-479.
    15. Ferguson-Cradler, Gregory, 2020. "Ownership in the electricity market: Property, the firm, and the climate crisis," MPIfG Discussion Paper 20/5, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    16. Jochen Markard & Daniel Rosenbloom, 2020. "Politics of low-carbon transitions: The European Emissions Trading System as a Trojan Horse for climate policy?," Working Papers on Innovation Studies 20200116, Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture, University of Oslo.
    17. Irja Vormedal & Lars H. Gulbrandsen & Jon Birger Skjærseth, 2020. "Big Oil and Climate Regulation: Business as Usual or a Changing Business?," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 20(4), pages 143-166, Autumn.
    18. Jared Cory & Michael Lerner & Iain Osgood, 2021. "Supply Chain Linkages and the Extended Carbon Coalition," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 65(1), pages 69-87, January.
    19. Torbjørg Jevnaker & Jørgen Wettestad, 2017. "Ratcheting Up Carbon Trade: The Politics of Reforming EU Emissions Trading," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 17(2), pages 105-124, May.

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