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Radical Activism and Self-regulation: An Optimal Campaign Mechanism

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  • Mireille Chiroleu-Assouline

    (PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne)

  • Ariane Lambert-Mogiliansky

    (PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement)

Abstract

We study the problem faced by activists who want to maximize …rms'compliance with high environmental standards. Our focus is on radical activism which relies on non-violent civil disobedience. The threat of disruptive actions is used to force …rms to concede i.e., to engage in self-regulation. We adopt a mechanism design approach to characterize an optimal campaign. The analysis informs that the least vulnerable and most polluting …rms should be targeted with disruptive actions while the others are granted a guarantee not to be targeted in exchange for a concession. This characterization allows studying the determinants of the activist's strength and how it is a¤ected by repression, a central feature in civil disobedience. We …nd that an optimal campaign is relatively resilient to repression and that it creates incentives to free ride in prosecution for individual …rms. Next, we consider heterogeneity in …rms'abatement cost to …nd that an optimal campaign optimizes the allocation of abatment e¤orts and creates incentives for innovation. We discuss some other welfare properties of optimal campaign.

Suggested Citation

  • Mireille Chiroleu-Assouline & Ariane Lambert-Mogiliansky, 2022. "Radical Activism and Self-regulation: An Optimal Campaign Mechanism," PSE Working Papers halshs-03586793, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:psewpa:halshs-03586793
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-03586793v2
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Olivier Beaumais & Mireille Chiroleu-Assouline, 2024. "Unaware corporate social responsibility: impact of firm size, motivations and external pressures," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(20), pages 2386-2406, April.
    2. Olivier Beaumais & Mireille Chiroleu-Assouline, 2023. "Unaware Corporate Social Responsibility: Impact of Firm Size, Motivations and External Pressures," Working Papers halshs-04003040, HAL.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Activist campaign; Mechanism design; Self-regulation; Repression Activist campaign; Repression;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D44 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Auctions
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • L31 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Nonprofit Institutions; NGOs; Social Entrepreneurship
    • Q59 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Other

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