IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/snd/wpaper/93.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Adoption of Voluntary Environmental Practices: Evidence from the Textile and Apparel Industry in Sri Lanka

Author

Listed:
  • D. W. Kinkini Hemach
  • ra

Abstract

This study examines voluntary adoption of environmental management practices in the textile and apparel sector in Sri Lanka. The textile and apparel industry contributes to 58% of total industrial export earnings and 52% of industrial employment in the country. Factories in this sector undertake different production activities and the Sri Lankan Central Environmental Authority identifies washing and dyeing factories as significant contributors to water pollution. In this study, we review existing environmental rules and regulations that apply to the textile and apparel sector and follow up with an econometric analysis of data from a factory survey and a set of detailed case studies. Our sample covers factories that are registered with the Sri Lankan Board of Investment, which primarily gathers large-scale export-oriented companies operating in the apparel sector. Study findings show that 96% of the factories surveyed voluntarily implemented at least one environmental management practice such as water recycling, material re-use and environmental audits and certification. 69% adopted more than two practices. Most of the surveyed factories had been inspected by regulators, but had never been fined. Our analyses suggest that while factories are responsive to existing regulations, market pressure from international buyers may be the dominant reason why Sri Lankan firms adopt good environmental practices. The analyses also suggest that firm's size and type of activities undertaken are the most significant factors that influence decisions to voluntarily adopt environmental management practices.

Suggested Citation

  • D. W. Kinkini Hemach & ra, "undated". "Adoption of Voluntary Environmental Practices: Evidence from the Textile and Apparel Industry in Sri Lanka," Working papers 93, The South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:snd:wpaper:93
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sandeeonline.org/uploads/documents/publication/1049_PUB_Working_Paper_93_Kinkini.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Toshihiro Uchida & Paul Ferraro, 2007. "Voluntary development of environmental management systems: motivations and regulatory implications," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 37-65, August.
    2. Keren Priyadarshini & Omprakash K. Gupta, 2003. "Compliance to Environmental Regulations: The Indian Context," International Journal of Business and Economics, School of Management Development, Feng Chia University, Taichung, Taiwan, vol. 2(1), pages 9-26, April.
    3. Nakamura, Masao & Takahashi, Takuya & Vertinsky, Ilan, 2001. "Why Japanese Firms Choose to Certify: A Study of Managerial Responses to Environmental Issues," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 23-52, July.
    4. Blackman, Allen, 2009. "Alternative Pollution Control Policies in Developing Countries: Informal, Informational, and Voluntary," RFF Working Paper Series dp-09-10, Resources for the Future.
    5. Foulon, Jerome & Lanoie, Paul & Laplante, Benoit, 2002. "Incentives for Pollution Control: Regulation or Information?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 169-187, July.
    6. Kozo Horiuchi & Masao Nakamura, 2001. "Environmental Issues and Japanese Firms," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Masao Nakamura (ed.), The Japanese Business and Economic System, chapter 13, pages 364-384, Palgrave Macmillan.
    7. Jayasinghe-Mudalige, Udith K. & Weersink, Alfons, 2004. "Factors Affecting the Adoption of Environmental Management Systems by Crop and Livestock Farms in Canada," Sri Lankan Journal of Agricultural Economics, Sri Lanka Agricultural Economics Association (SAEA), vol. 6, pages 1-14.
    8. Blackman, Allen & Sisto, Nicholas, 2005. "Muddling Through while Environmental Regulatory Capacity Evolves: What Role for Voluntary Agreements?," Discussion Papers 10570, Resources for the Future.
    9. Anton, Wilma Rose Q., 2005. "The Choice of Management Practices: What Determines the Design of an Environmental Management System?," 2005 Annual meeting, July 24-27, Providence, RI 19503, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    10. Maxwell, John W & Lyon, Thomas P & Hackett, Steven C, 2000. "Self-Regulation and Social Welfare: The Political Economy of Corporate Environmentalism," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 43(2), pages 583-617, October.
    11. Janaka Wijayasiri & Jagath Dissanayake, 2008. "The Ending of the Multi-Fibre Agreement and Innovation in Sri Lankan Textile and Clothing Industry: Trade and Innovation Project - Case Study No. 3," OECD Trade Policy Papers 75, OECD Publishing.
    12. Dasgupta, Susmita & Hettige, Hemamala & Wheeler, David, 2000. "What Improves Environmental Compliance? Evidence from Mexican Industry," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 39-66, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. D. W. Kinkini Hemachandra, 2015. "Adoption of Voluntary Environmental Practices: Evidence from the Textile and Apparel Industry in Sri Lanka," Working Papers id:7134, eSocialSciences.
    2. Madhu Khanna & George Deltas & Donna Harrington, 2009. "Adoption of Pollution Prevention Techniques: The Role of Management Systems and Regulatory Pressures," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 44(1), pages 85-106, September.
    3. Barla, Philippe, 2007. "ISO 14001 certification and environmental performance in Quebec's pulp and paper industry," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 291-306, May.
    4. Yu Matsuno, 2007. "Pollution control agreements in Japan: conditions for their success," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 8(2), pages 103-141, June.
    5. David Ervin & JunJie Wu & Madhu Khanna & Cody Jones & Teresa Wirkkala, 2013. "Motivations and Barriers to Corporate Environmental Management," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(6), pages 390-409, September.
    6. Wu JunJie & Wirkkala Teresa M., 2009. "Firms' Motivations for Environmental Overcompliance," Review of Law & Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 5(1), pages 399-433, June.
    7. Ziegler, Andreas & Schröder, Michael, 2006. "What Determines the Inclusion in a Sustainability Stock Index? A Panel Data Analysis for European Companies," ZEW Discussion Papers 06-041, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    8. Anton, Wilma Rose Q., 2005. "The Choice of Management Practices: What Determines the Design of an Environmental Management System?," 2005 Annual meeting, July 24-27, Providence, RI 19503, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    9. Eva Horváthová, 2020. "Why Do Firms Voluntarily Adopt Environmental Management Systems? The Case of the Czech Republic," Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, Mendel University Press, vol. 68(1), pages 157-168.
    10. Kumar, Surender & Shetty, Shivananda, 2018. "Corporate Participation in Voluntary Environmental Programs in India: Determinants and Deterrence," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 1-10.
    11. Toshihiro Uchida & Paul Ferraro, 2007. "Voluntary development of environmental management systems: motivations and regulatory implications," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 37-65, August.
    12. Cody Jones, 2013. "Moving Beyond Profit: Expanding Research to Better Understand Business Environmental Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(6), pages 1-29, June.
    13. Ziegler, Andreas & Schröder, Michael, 2010. "What determines the inclusion in a sustainability stock index?: A panel data analysis for european firms," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(4), pages 848-856, February.
    14. Reif, Christiane & Rexhäuser, Sascha, 2015. "Good enough! Are socially responsible companies the more successful environmental innovators?," ZEW Discussion Papers 15-018, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    15. Kube, Roland & von Graevenitz, Kathrine & Löschel, Andreas & Massier, Philipp, 2019. "Do voluntary environmental programs reduce emissions? EMAS in the German manufacturing sector," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(S1).
    16. Blackman, Allen & Guerrero, Santiago, 2012. "What drives voluntary eco-certification in Mexico?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 256-268.
    17. Roeland Bracke & Tom Verbeke, 2007. "What Distinguishes EMAS Participants? An Exploration of Company Characteristics," Working Papers 2007.37, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    18. Cañón de Francia, Joaquín & Garcés Ayerbe, Concepción, 2006. "Repercusión económica de la certificación medioambiental ISO 14001," Cuadernos de Gestión, Universidad del País Vasco - Instituto de Economía Aplicada a la Empresa (IEAE).
    19. Diego A. Vazquez-Brust & José Antonio Plaza-Úbeda, 2021. "What Characteristics Do the Firms Have That Go Beyond Compliance with Regulation in Environmental Protection? A Multiple Discriminant Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-27, February.
    20. Runa Sarkar, 2008. "Public policy and corporate environmental behaviour: a broader view," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(5), pages 281-297, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Environmental Management Practices; Apparel and Textile industry; Sri Lanka.;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:snd:wpaper:93. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Anuradhak (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.