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.     

Territorial politics and the success of collaborative environmental governance: local and regional partnerships compared

The paper explores the role local governments and territorial proximity play in the efficiency of collaborative environmental governance. It develops the hypothesis that the representatives of local authorities involved in partnerships possess resources to diminish the pitfalls of sustainable governance, facilitate coordination, and contribute to the success of shared policy-making. Four French and English partnerships are presented. They include a diversity of stakeholders such as fisheries, ports, farmers, yachting associations, environmental NGOs, or local authorities. Thereby, the paper develops whether and under which conditions local governments play a positive or negative role, as well as comparing territorial levels of implementation and the effects of geographical proximity. It is shown that collaboration at the regional level prevents the integration of decision-making in organisational networks, the inclusion of citizens, and the development of social responsibility for stakeholders – the partnership acting as a formalisation of pre-existing lobbying. Locally, governments assume inter-organisational leadership and do contribute to the institutionalisation of the new forums. Yet, local successes of partnerships answer logics of social, rather than environmental, regulation. The local attenuation of usage conflicts does not necessarily reduce the negative effects of those usages on the environment. By stressing a collaborative definition of environmental problems, the partnerships tend to sideline substantial policy changes, and possibly conflict with the goals and long-term temporality of sustainable governance.     

企业环境信息公开与政府监管策略的演化博弈分析

由于企业与消费者、投资者、政府等利益相关者之间存在着信息不对称,而真实的企业环境信息是利益相关者做出决策的必要前提,所以具有良好环境行为的企业愿意公开真实的环境信息,但同时也会使不具有良好环境行为的企业有动机公开虚假的环境信息以谋取额外收益,进而导致企业环境信息的信号传递失效。针对此问题,本文考虑了相关主体的有限理性特征,构建了企业是否真实公开环境信息与政府监管行为交互的演化模型,分析了不同参数的变化对系统演化结果的影响,并通过数值实验模拟了不同初始状态和参数设置下的系统演化过程,得出了一定的结论。研究表明:初始状态时的政府监管概率、政府的监管成本、对企业公开虚假环境信息的惩罚、政府选择监管策略的收益、企业真实公开环境信息的收益和企业的伪装效果系数对系统的演化结果具有重要影响,通过政策手段对这些参数进行调控可以引导系统向良好模式演化,使企业公开真实的环境信息,达到环境信息的信号传递作用。     

环保非政府组织的作用和定位

环保非政府组织是市场、政府和公众之外的一支重要的社会力量,具有弥补政府失灵和市场失灵的作用又可填补政府留下的空间,也使它的作用有局限。中国环保非政府组织与政府之间应建立一种有利于该组织健康发展的非对抗性的合作关系。     

生态文明建设的善治结构:三明治模型

在评析西方社会变革"三明治模型"的基础上,将其扩展应用于生态文明建设。借鉴西方社会变革的成功经验,基于我国实际构建生态文明建设的善治结构设计,构建了由生态政府、生态社会和生态公民协同至善的"三明治模型",并详细阐述了这一模型的动态演进过程和治理运行机制,为深化这一领域的研究提供了新视角和新思路。在生态文明建设的善治结构中,生态政府的重要职责是增强国家力量,生态企业发挥主责作用,生态公民的草根运动则是最广泛的基础。     

省级政府环境治理绩效的组态生成机制研究——基于多重制度逻辑的动态FSQCA分析

省级政府承担着改善地区环境质量,守护一方绿水青山的重任。探究不同制度条件下地方政府环境治理绩效的组态生成机制,对加强生态文明建设,促进人与自然和谐共生的中国式现代化具有重要意义。基于多重制度逻辑理论,本文对30个省级行政区2017—2019年的数据进行了动态的汇总型FSQCA分析。研究发现：单一条件不能构成省级政府环境治理高绩效的必要生成条件;生成省级政府环境治理高绩效的组态机制共有四种,分别为：数据赋能单向机制、市场—法治协同机制、市场—公众协同机制以及政治—数据协同机制。进一步分析表明,在我国不同地区,生成省级政府环境治理高绩效的组态机制具有差异性。