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Corporate lobbying for environmental protection

Author

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  • Felix Grey

    (Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge)

Abstract

Much of the time, firms lobby against environmental protection, but there are major exceptions to this rule. DuPont, the leading ozone polluter in the 1980s, lobbied for a complete ban of its product. In 2015, in the run up to the Paris Agreement, Europe's six largest oil and gas companies lobbied for a global carbon price. This kind of political support is often pivotal for governments trying to protect the environment. I offer an explanation for this phenomenon, suggesting firms behave as they do in order to steal market share from their rivals. I develop a simple model in which a polluting firm makes a clean technology investment and then lobbies successfully for strong environmental protection, since this will shift market share away from its rival who has not made the clean investment. The key result is that there are situations where it is only because of firms' lobbying that environmental protection is achieved, and this raises welfare.
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Suggested Citation

  • Felix Grey, 2017. "Corporate lobbying for environmental protection," Working Papers EPRG 1714, Energy Policy Research Group, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
    • Handle: RePEc:enp:wpaper:eprg1714
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    Cited by:

    1. Gustav Engström & Johan Gars & Niko Jaakkola & Therese Lindahl & Daniel Spiro & Arthur A. van Benthem, 2020. "What Policies Address Both the Coronavirus Crisis and the Climate Crisis?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 76(4), pages 789-810, August.
    2. Sheila Olmstead & Jiameng Zheng, 2019. "Policy Instruments for Water Pollution Control in Developing Countries," World Bank Publications - Reports 33072, The World Bank Group.
    3. Hirose, Kosuke & Ishihara, Akifumi & Matsumura, Toshihiro, 2024. "Tax versus regulations: Polluters’ incentives for loosening industry emission targets," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    4. Amir Shoham & Jedrzej George Frynas & Ahmad Arslan & Ofra Bazel-Shoham & Sang Mook Lee & Zaheer Khan & Shlomo Tarba, 2024. "The interrelationships between corporate political activity and corporate environmental performance: the role of language diversity," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 55(9), pages 1204-1217, December.
    5. Yali Yi & Pelin Demirel, 2023. "The impact of sustainability‐oriented dynamic capabilities on firm growth: Investigating the green supply chain management and green political capabilities," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(8), pages 5873-5888, December.
    6. van den Bergh, Jeroen, 2023. "Climate policy versus growth concerns: Suggestions for economic research and communication," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    7. Gren, Ing-Marie & Höglind, Lisa & Jansson, Torbjörn, 2021. "Refunding of a climate tax on food consumption in Sweden," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    8. Dolphin, Geoffroy & Pahle, Michael & Burtraw, Dallas & Kosch, Mirjam, 2022. "A Net-Zero Target Compels a Backwards Induction Approach to Climate Policy," RFF Working Paper Series 22-18, Resources for the Future.
    9. Jie Ouyang & Kezhong Zhang & Bo Wen & Yuanping Lu, 2020. "Top-Down and Bottom-Up Approaches to Environmental Governance in China: Evidence from the River Chief System (RCS)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-23, September.
    10. Pauli Lappi, 2021. "Lobbying for size and slice of the quota," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 28(5), pages 1143-1162, October.
    11. Teun Schrieks & Julia Swart & Fujin Zhou & W. J. Wouter Botzen, 2023. "Lobbying, Time Preferences and Emission Tax Policy," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 1-32, March.
    12. Baudino, Marco, 2024. "Oil rents, renewable energy and the role of financial development: Evidence from OPEC+ members," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    13. Trinks, Arjan & Mulder, Machiel & Scholtens, Bert, 2020. "An Efficiency Perspective on Carbon Emissions and Financial Performance," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    14. Dapeng Cai & Jie Li, 2020. "Pollution for Sale: Firms’ Characteristics and Lobbying Outcome," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 77(3), pages 539-564, November.
    15. Kalk, Andrei & Sorger, Gerhard, 2023. "Climate policy under political pressure," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    16. Wang, Juan & Li, Jing & Zhang, Qingjun, 2021. "Does carbon efficiency improve financial performance? Evidence from Chinese firms," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    17. Rebecca L. Perlman, 2020. "For Safety or Profit? How Science Serves the Strategic Interests of Private Actors," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 64(2), pages 293-308, April.
    18. Yu, Xiaojun & Li, Qiang & Zhang, Lin, 2024. "Major government customer and corporate environmental responsibility: Evidence from China," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    19. Hazem,Nada & Zaki,Chahir, 2025. "Environmental Stringency and Firms’ Participation in Global Value Chains : Evidence for MENA Countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 11161, The World Bank.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

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