Well-designed environmental regulation and firm performance: Swedish evidence on the Porter hypothesis and the effect of regulatory time strategies

Using recent data on a cross-section of Swedish chemical and pulp and paper firms, this paper provides novel empirical insights into the Porter hypothesis. Well-designed environmental regulation can stimulate firms’ innovative capabilities, while at the same time generating innovation offsets that may both offset net compliance costs and yield a competitive edge over those firms that are not affected by such regulations. In doing so, we also test the alleged effectiveness of regulatory time strategies in stimulating innovation activities of regulated firms. We find evidence for the effectiveness of such well-designed regulations: announced rather than existing regulation induces innovation and some innovation offsets. Our results imply that empirical tests of the Porter hypothesis that do not account for its dynamic nature, and that do not measure well-designed regulations, might provide misleading conclusions as to its validity.     

Environmental regulation, productive efficiency and cost of pollution abatement: a case study of the sugar industry in India

In this paper the input distance function is estimated for the Indian Sugar industry under alternative assumptions of weak and strong disposability of bad outputs. The estimated distance function is used to make the estimates of environmental efficiency, Malmquist productivity index and shadow prices of pollutants. The technical efficiency measure estimated under the assumption of weak disposability of bad outputs is utilized to test the Porter hypothesis. Marginal costs of pollution abatement functions are estimated for different pollutants of water. Pollutant specific taxes are computed using the tax-standards method.     

Environmental compliance: The good, the bad, and the super green

Although many empirical studies have examined firms' decisions to participate in voluntary environmental programs, relatively few have examined why firms choose different levels of compliance with environmental regulations. This paper uses primary data to examine why some firms violate regulatory standards on water pollution, solid waste, toxic and hazardous waste, and hazardous air emissions, while others over-comply with them. The results suggest that different factors drive decisions to violate or over-comply with an environmental regulation. Some evidence was found to support the strategic behavior theory of environmental overcompliance, but no corroborating evidence was uncovered to support the green consumer theory.     

环境规制、技术创新与企业绩效——基于石化行业VOCs排污收费政策的准自然实验

文章以2015—2019年中国石化行业337家上市公司为研究样本,运用双重差分模型验证了当期环境规制对后一期企业绩效的正向影响。进一步的中介效应检验发现,环境规制主要通过技术创新促进企业绩效的提高,从而验证了中国石化行业“波特假说”的存在。此外文章还发现环境规制影响企业绩效的效果及作用机制存在显著的区域差异,东、中部地区表现出显著正向影响,均支持“波特假说”,西部地区则影响不明显。基于上述研究,文章认为促进石化行业的绿色低碳发展,需进一步加大石化行业生态环境保护的政策实施力度、促进石化行业企业的科技投入并注重区域差异。     

OWNERSHIP AND WATER SYSTEM OPERATION1

ABSTRACT: Two types of organizational systems provide most of the water service in the United States. The investor-owned firm operates on a profit basis generally subject to state commission regulation. The government-owned firm is generally confronted by local control. The comparative efficiency of private versus government firm provision of water services is essentially an empirical issue. Unit costs and other operating statistics are examined for water firms of each ownership form. The analysis shows that private firms tend to have higher operation costs than do government firms, possibly attributable to wage-salary differentials. The analysis also indicates that capital investment in large government firms may result in diseconomies. The analysis creates serious doubt as to whether efficient provision of water services can be better facilitated by large mergers of either ownership form.     

The Determinants of Mining Company Response to Environmental Approvals Regulation: A Report of Australian Research

Companies react in different ways to environmental regulation. A prevailing view in the literature suggests that external factors, particularly stakeholder groups, exert the most influence on the environmental responses of firms. This paper reports on research that examines the influence of a range of possible determinants, both internal and external, on the way Australian mining companies respond to environmental approvals regulation. External pressures included stakeholder pressure, jurisdictional culture and market characteristics, and internal pressures included organizational culture, organizational learning, the influence of individuals within firms and company size. The study found that the internal pressures of organizational culture, organiza tional learning and the influence of individuals exert the greatest influence on mining company response to environmental approvals regulation. These results suggest that existing explanations of corporate environmental behaviour, which emphasize external factors, should be complemented by a focus on the internal dynamics of firms.     

The effect of environmental regulation on firms' competitive performance: the case of the building & construction sector in some EU regions

There is a considerable debate on the effects of environmental regulation on competitive performance. Based on survey data, this paper analyzesthe two main research questions, derived from literature, on the links between environmental regulation and competitiveness, by focusing on firms operating in the building and construction sector, i.e.: 1) whether environmental policy stringency affects the competitive performance of firms in the building and construction sector 2) and how a specific form of environmental regulation (direct regulation, economic instruments and soft instruments) affects this performance? By applying a regression analysis, we find that a more stringent environmental regulation, measured by inspection frequency, provides a positive impulse for increasing investments in advanced technological equipment and innovative products and on business performance. Moreover, a well-designed “direct regulation” appears to be the most effective policy instrument for prompting the positive impact of environmental policies on innovation and intangible performance while economic instruments do negatively affect business performance.     

The nexus between eco-friendly technology and environmental degradation in India: Does the N or inverted N-shape load capacity curve(LCC) hypothesis hold?

This study aims to investigate the impact of eco-friendly technology on environmental degradation indicated using the load capacity factor (LCF) with the framework of the Load Capacity Curve (LCC) hypothesis. In this regard, an environmental degradation function is formed and analyzed using the Augmented Autoregressive Distributed Lag (AARDL) approach during the period spanning from 1975 to 2021 for India. The outcome indicates that eco-friendly technology reduces the LCF, thereby fostering environmental degradation in the long run, but the relationship is not significant in the short run. Further, an N-shaped LCC hypothesis has been observed in both long and short runs. Besides, energy consumption exhibits a LCF reducing or environmental degradation boosting role in the short run and long run. These findings are consistent with other models that are used to check the robustness of AARDL-based results. Thus, the study recommends policies for promoting eco-friendly technology, judicious economic growth, and cautious energy consumption to attain sustainable development by increasing the LCF in India.     

The ISO 14001 EMS Implementation Process and Its Implications: A Case Study of Central Japan

/ This study aims to investigate the ISO 14001 implementation process and its implications for regional environmental management. The region of Central Japan (known as Chubu in Japanese, which literally means center) was chosen for this case study. The study focuses on selected issues such as the: (1) trends and motives of private firms in the implementation of an ISO 14001-based environmental management system (EMS); (2) obstacles during system implementation; (3) role of the system in enhancing environmental performance within the certified organization; and (4) relation between the major stakeholders, local citizens, governments, and firms after adopting the system. To achieve these objectives, a questionnaire survey was mailed to all certified firms in the region. A 58% response was achieved overall. The results show that the main aims behind the adoption of ISO 14001 by firms in the Chubu region are to improve the environmental aspects within the enterprises and to enhance the employees' environmental awareness and capacity. The results have also shown that the ISO 14001-based EMS has had a great effect on a firm's environmental status as certified firms have claimed that natural resources such as fuel, water, and paper consumption have been more efficiently managed after adopting the system. Implementation of the system causes the firms to consider the role of the local people and the government in more effectively involving the local people in the firm's daily environmental activities. It also helps to enhance the environmental awareness among the local people. Adopting the system also promotes a better relation within the enterprises affiliated to the same group, such as more attention given by the parent firms (head offices) towards other firms working for the same group, or branches-mainly small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs)-in the field of EMS. Finally, the results show that firms give serious consideration to their final products' impacts on the environment. In other words, attention is given to life cycle analysis (LCA) among certified firms.     

Reinventing Environmental Regulation from the Grassroots Up: Explaining and Expanding the Success of the Toxics Release Inventory

/ The success of the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) stands in stark contrast to most other environmental regulations in the United States. Between its inception in 1988 and 1995, releases of chemicals listed on the TRI have declined by 45%. We argue the TRI has achieved this regulatory success by creating a mechanism of "populist maxi-min regulation." This style of regulation differs from traditional command-and-control in several ways. First, the majorrole of public agencies is not to set and enforce standards, but to establish an information-rich context for private citizens, interest groups, and firms to solve environmental problems. Second, environmental "standards" are not determined by expert analysis of acceptable risk, but are effectively set at the levels informed citizens will accept. Third, firms adopt pollution prevention and abatement measures in response to a dynamic range of public pressures rather than to formalized agency standards or governmental sanction. Finally, public pressure ruthlessly focuses on the worst polluters-maximum attention to minimum performers-to induce them to adopt more effective environmental practices. TRI has inadvertently set in motion this alternative style of regulation that has, in turn, dramatically reduced toxics emissions in the United States. By properly understanding the mechanisms that drive TRI's accomplishments, more intentional public policy designs can expand the system of populist maxi-min regulation and achieve even more rapid toxics reduction.     

天堂河河道治理工程水质改善预测分析

河道治理工程重在改善河道的水质,以恢复河流生态系统。本文以北京市大兴区天堂河河道治理工程为例,介绍了河道治理工程环境影响评价中的水质改善预测分析,首先分析生态需水量和供氧量是否满足河流生态需水要求,后又利用地面水环评助手软件预测了河流水质,预测分析了天堂河水质目标的可达性,旨在为以后的河道治理类工程环境影响评价提供参考。     

Managing Asia's environmental crisis: EQM opportunities for remediation and technology transfer

Conditions of environmental pollution and degradation in Asia are among the worst in the world. Rapid economic growth and industrialization over the past half century have accelerated the pollution of air, water, and land resources in a region with the world's largest concentration of population. As the economics of Asia recover from financial crisis in the late 1990s, they will face a more serious environmental crisis in the early years of the 21st century. Remediation of soil and water contamination will become a stronger concern in the region, as the human health impacts become more visible and widespread. Although environmental remediation is only beginning to emerge in Asia as a solution to problems of natural resource degradation, the authors show how U.S. firms with experience in quality environmental management and biological remediation technologies will find new opportunities for exports and technology transfer. Environmental technology and services firms interested in Asia must understand both the opportunities for and barriers to operating in Asia.     

Environmental training and cleaner production in Indian industry—A micro-level study

An attempt has been made to analyze various types of organizational training imparted in Indian Industries while implementing cleaner production. The study was carried out in two industrialized states of India, namely Maharashtra and Gujarat. with participation of eight firms from each state. The various sources of training for the Indian industries have also been studied. A case study each from the two states, viz. Maharashtra and Gujarat have been presented in this paper. It is found that more than half of the industrial units have given importance to various kinds of training during the implementation of cleaner production. When it comes to training in environmental management system (EMS), nearly half of the firms have gone in for it. Among the sources of training, the most useful training was the training imparted by in-house staff and on-the-job training. Lastly, suppliers of cleaner technologies seem to have also played an active role in training as revealed by few of the participating units     

Investigating supportive conditions for participation in voluntary environmental programs

Voluntary environmental programs (VEPs) are commonly construed as contracts between industry and government that encourage businesses to voluntarily mitigate their environmental impacts beyond legal requirements. This research explores conditions under which polluting firms are likely to participate in VEPs. We analyze 34 comparable VEPs whose shared goal is to reduce greenhouse gases emissions, with focus on the alleged influences of three factors drawn from existing scholarship: government supervision; economic instruments; and public disclosure of participants' environmental records. The statistical results show a greater effect from government supervision than complete voluntarism and the positive effect of financial subsidies on firms' participation in VEPs. Although recent debates over regulatory reform have been oriented towards vesting greater discretion in regulatees to better address environmental harms, the findings imply that even in a highly privatized form of regulation, government oversight and assistance are necessary for promoting this new mode of environmental regulation.     

Estimating the Relative Efficiency of Brazilian Publicly and Privately Owned Water Utilities: A Stochastic Cost Frontier Approach1

Abstract: This paper assesses cost efficiencies of Brazilian public and private companies of water supply. To measure the efficiency, we used a stochastic frontier model derived from the translog family – a specification similar to a Cobb‐Douglas including a quadratic term in log output. The model parameters are estimated by maximum likelihood using Brazilian data for the year 2002. Statistical inference leads to the conclusion that there is no evidence that private firms and public firms are significantly different in terms of efficiency measurements.     

ECONOMIC POLICIES FOR REGULATING AGRICULTURAL DRAINAGE WATER1

ABSTRACT: Agricultural drainage water is a major source of environmental pollution in many areas. This paper reviews the literature on the economics of nonpoint-source pollution and applies it to the regulation of agricultural drainage water. Four types of regulatory policies are considered. The empirical analysis is carried out for cotton production in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Variable inputs are the quantity of water applied and the type of irrigation system. All four policies can achieve economic efficiency under the conditions assumed here, but the policies differ in terms of the distributional impacts and administrative requirements.     

环境规制对城市生态技术扩散效率的影响研究

生态技术扩散是长江经济带生态文明建设的必要环节,也是企业履行环保责任的有效措施。本文以长江经济带110个地级及以上城市为研究对象,采用非径向方向距离函数对城市工业企业生态技术扩散效率进行测算,分别从整体和区域异质性角度实证分析环境规制对城市工业企业生态技术扩散效率的影响及内在机理。结果表明：长江经济带城市环境规制与生态技术扩散效率存在倒“U”形关系,环境规制对生态技术扩散效率还存在多重影响路径,外商直接投资和工业集聚在影响路径中分别起着中介作用,且外商直接投资和工业集聚的链式中介显著。在异质性分析中,发现环境规制、外商直接投资、工业集聚和生态技术扩散效率之间的关系因区域位置不同而存在差异性。为此,依据研究结论及环境规制实施现状提出相应的政策建议,实现长江经济带经济永续绿色发展目标。     

Eco-Labeling and ISO 14000: An Analysis of US Regulatory Systems and Issues Concerning Adoption of Type II Standards

/ Current private and public regulatory systems may not provide an optimal degree of regulation for labels bearing environmental information, and established institutions may detract from efforts to provide for better environmental management. The advent of ISO 14000 offers new opportunities for making eco-labeling a meaningful tool to encourage environmental stewardship. While new federal legislation offers the best vehicle to introduce these standards into US law, the slow pace of the legislative process may recommend an alternative system. Multinational and civic-minded firms may be expected to employ private programs to nurture benevolent environmental management practices until more definitive governmental institutions can be put in place.KEY WORDS: Eco-labels; Environmental labeling; International standards; ISO 14000     

Mandatory planning for environmental innovation: evaluating regulatory mechanisms for toxics use reduction

This paper analyzes the Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Act (TURA), evaluating what TURA has achieved, how it has been implemented, how it motivates firms to change and how its underlying principles might be strengthened to better support innovation for toxics use reduction. Through this analysis recent debates are engaged about the potentials and limitations of using regulation to promote innovation for the environment. The analysis here shows that TURA is distinct from existing regulatory programmes in how it requires firms to self‐evaluate and plan for process improvements, supports implementation through technical assistance and focuses on pollution prevention rather than control. Mandatory planning, new mechanisms of accountability and improved processes of learning have all been critical to TURA's success in motivating firms to innovate for the environment. Taken together, these factors have supported incremental innovations in industry that may point the way toward policies to support even greater environmental improvements.     

环境规制对技术创新效率的影响分析——基于创新链视角的两阶段实证检验

新古典经济学理论认为,严格的环境规制会提高污染治理成本,挤占技术创新活动的资金,对技术创新产生"挤出效应"。而"波特假说"认为,长期内适当的环境规制政策将对企业的科技创新活动起到刺激性推动作用,可弥补因规制而增加的额外成本,从而形成"创新补偿效应"。这个观点表明环境规制对于企业的技术创新可能存在非线性影响效应。另外,技术创新要经历研究开发阶段与成果转化阶段,即从资源投入到产生经济效益的过程。本文基于系统观和创新链视角,创新性地构建两阶段关联DEA模型测算技术创新活动的投入产出效率,并运用中国2011——2017年间的省级面板数据进行回归检验,探讨环境规制强度对研究开发阶段和成果转化阶段技术创新效率的非线性影响效应,同时将中国划分为东部、中西部两大区域分别考察,进一步揭示环境规制对技术创新效率影响的空间异质性和阶段性特点,最后提出相应政策建议。