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Does Disclosure Reduce Pollution? Evidence from India's Green Rating Project

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  • Powers, Nicholas
  • Blackman, Allen

    () (Resources for the Future)

  • Lyon, Thomas P.
  • Narain, Urvashi

Abstract

Public disclosure programs that collect and disseminate information about firms’ environmental performance are increasingly popular in both developed and developing countries. Yet little is known about whether they actually improve environmental performance, particularly in the latter setting. We use detailed plant-level survey data to evaluate the impact of India’s Green Rating Project (GRP) on the environmental performance of the country’s largest pulp and paper plants. We find that the GRP drove significant reductions in pollution loadings among dirty plants but not among cleaner ones. This result comports with statistical and anecdotal evaluations of similar disclosure programs. We also find that plants located in wealthier communities were more responsive to GRP ratings, as were single-plant firms.

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  • Powers, Nicholas & Blackman, Allen & Lyon, Thomas P. & Narain, Urvashi, 2008. "Does Disclosure Reduce Pollution? Evidence from India's Green Rating Project," Discussion Papers dp-08-38, Resources For the Future.
    • Handle: RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-08-38
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Shreekant Gupta & Bishwanath Goldar & Shubham Dang, 2019. "Environmental Performance And Capital Markets--Evidence From India," Working papers 303, Centre for Development Economics, Delhi School of Economics.
    2. Marc Rysman & Timothy Simcoe & Yanfei Wang, 2020. "Differentiation Strategies in the Adoption of Environmental Standards: LEED from 2000 to 2014," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(9), pages 4173-4192, September.
    3. Nicholas E. Powers, 2013. "Measuring The Impact Of The Toxics Release Inventory: Evidence From Manufacturing Plant Births," Working Papers 13-07, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    4. Harbaugh, Richmond & To, Theodore, 2020. "False modesty: When disclosing good news looks bad," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 43-55.
    5. Allen Blackman & Sarah Darley & Thomas P. Lyon & Kris Wernstedt, 2010. "What Drives Participation in State Voluntary Cleanup Programs? Evidence from Oregon," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 86(4), pages 785-799.
    6. 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.
    7. Li, Yi, 2017. "Voluntary disclosure and investment in environmental technology," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 331-341.
    8. Chen, Victor L. & Delmas, Magali A. & Locke, Stephen L. & Singh, Amarjeet, 2017. "Information strategies for energy conservation: A field experiment in India," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 215-227.
    9. Olmstead, Sheila & Richardson, Nathan, 2014. "Managing the Risks of Shale Gas Development Using Innovative Legal and Regulatory Approaches," Discussion Papers dp-14-15, Resources For the Future.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    public disclosure; pollution control; India; pulp and paper;

    JEL classification:

    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

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