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Political economy of voluntary approaches: A lesson from environmental policies in Japan

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  • Arimura, Toshi H.
  • Kaneko, Shinji
  • Managi, Shunsuke
  • Shinkuma, Takayoshi
  • Yamamoto, Masashi
  • Yoshida, Yuichiro

Abstract

In this paper, we attempt to identify the reasons behind the differences in environmental policy between Japan and other developed countries, particularly the US. Japan’s environmental policy is unique in that voluntary approaches have been taken to reduce total emissions. This strategy is quite different from the traditional approach of heavy-handed regulation. In Japan, voluntary approaches are conducted through negotiations with polluters. The idea behind this type of voluntary approaches is that the government can induce polluters to abate emissions voluntarily by using light-handed regulations and the threat of heavy-handed regulations. The light-handed regulation is quite effective especially when it is costly to introduce heavy-handed regulations, although the negotiations are difficult to conduct when the number of stakeholders is large. To strengthen our analysis, we provide some examples of Japanese environmental policies which are successful and the ones that are not.

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  • Arimura, Toshi H. & Kaneko, Shinji & Managi, Shunsuke & Shinkuma, Takayoshi & Yamamoto, Masashi & Yoshida, Yuichiro, 2019. "Political economy of voluntary approaches: A lesson from environmental policies in Japan," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 41-53.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecanpo:v:64:y:2019:i:c:p:41-53
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eap.2019.07.003
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    4. Donatella Baiardi & Maria Gaia Soana, 2021. "Macroeconomic and microeconomic environmental and energy policies: are they effective for improving the environmental performance of listed companies?," Working Papers 478, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised Aug 2021.
    5. Lu, Guanyu & Sugino, Makoto & Arimura, Toshi H. & Horie, Tetsuya, 2022. "Success and failure of the voluntary action plan: Disaggregated sector decomposition analysis of energy-related CO2 emissions in Japan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    6. Eunjung Lim, 2021. "A Comparative Study of Power Mixes for Green Growth: How South Korea and Japan See Nuclear Energy Differently," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-15, September.
    7. Donatella Baiardi & Maria Gaia Soana, 2021. "Macroeconomic and microeconomic environmental and energy policies: are they effective for improving environmental performance of listed companies?," Working Paper series 21-17, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis.
    8. Mortha, Aline & Yajima, Naonari & Arimura, Toshi H., 2024. "Impact of the feed-in-tariff exemption on energy consumption in Japanese industrial plants," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
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    10. Weijia Zhuo, 2023. "Environmental regulation and corporate sustainability: Evidence from green innovation," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(4), pages 1723-1737, July.

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