Grantee Research Project Results
2002 Progress Report: Compliance and Beyond: Strategic Government-Industry Interactions in Environmental Policy and Performance
EPA Grant Number: R829690Title: Compliance and Beyond: Strategic Government-Industry Interactions in Environmental Policy and Performance
Investigators: Parson, Edward A.
Institution: Harvard University
EPA Project Officer: Hahn, Intaek
Project Period: July 1, 2002 through September 30, 2004
Project Period Covered by this Report: July 1, 2002 through September 30, 2003
Project Amount: $157,672
RFA: Corporate Environmental Behavior: Examining the Effectiveness of Government Interventions and Voluntary Initiatives (2001) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Environmental Justice
Objective:
The objectives of this research project are to: (1) study strategic interactions between government regulatory agencies and firms, and the consequences of these interactions for environmental policy and corporate environmental performance; (2) investigate how these interactions are influenced by uncertainty and asymmetric information about firms’ capabilities (technological and managerial) for environmental performance (present and future); and (3) advance the understanding of regulatory strategies and outcomes to identify regulatory strategies most likely to motivate firms to invest in, and achieve high levels of, environmental performance.
Progress Summary:
Seven case studies of technology-regulation interactions are nearing completion. Each of these examines the interacting history of regulatory attempts to manage an environmental problem and the knowledge and development of innovations proposed to manage the problem. They attempt to discern changes in the state-of-knowledge of salient technological alternatives over time, how these alternatives were characterized in policy debates, what strategies regarding the generation and disclosure of technological information were employed by industry and government, and how these interactions shaped progress in environmental performance.
The cases in preparation include the following: (1) automotive tailpipe emissions (from the 1950s to the 1990s); (2) automobile fuel economy (from the 1970s to the 1990s); (3) ozone-depleting chemicals 1 (chlorofluorocarbons [CFCs] and related compounds); (4) ozone-depleting chemicals 2 (methyl bromide); (5) dioxin emissions from the pulp and paper industry; and (6) occupational exposures to vinyl chloride perfluorocarbon emissions from aluminum processing (with particular emphasis on the origins and effects of the Voluntary Aluminum Industry Partnership).
A study of the treatment of technology forcing under three major U.S. statutes (Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Occupational Safety and Health Act) is nearing completion. This study examines three elements: (1) the treatment of conditions of technical and economic feasibility under each of the three statutes; (2) the courts’ treatment of regulatory challenges based on claims of infeasiblity; and (3) the resultant incentives for firms to cooperate or resist regulatory initiatives, to pursue innovations, and to disclose information about their capabilities.
The theoretical and modeling components of the project have progressed more slowly than the empirical components. Preliminary work was completed on several approaches to modeling firms’ and regulators’ interests in regulatory bargaining, but this work was delayed by a turnover of the students engaged as research assistants on the project. Facilitating progress on this component is one of the highest priorities for the remaining year of the grant.
Principal Investigator (PI) Edward A. Parson moved from Harvard University to the University of Michigan, effective July 1, 2003. Dr. Parson remains on the faculty at Harvard University on leave, and retains both the authority to remain the PI at Harvard University and the responsibility for conduct and completion of the research and all required reporting.
Future Activities:
In the second and final years of the project, the following activities will be performed: (1) the case studies and legal analysis will be completed and submitted for publication; (2) the work on theoretical modeling of asymmetric information in regulatory bargaining will be a major priority, and we aim to produce draft papers for review by the end of the year; (3) the regulatory/technology case studies now underway will be completed; (4) the legal analysis now underway will be completed; (5) progress will be made on the theory and modeling component of the project; and (6) papers that present the results will be prepared and submitted for publication.
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 14 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
public policy, political science, game theory, strategy, negotiation, regulation, innovation, technology-forcing, audit policies, compliance assistance, corporate compliance, corporate environmental behavior, corporate environmental policy, enforcement impact, enforcement strategy, environmental behavior, environmental compliance determinants, environmental law, environmental policy case studies, government intervention, government-industry interaction, information dissemination., RFA, Scientific Discipline, Sustainable Industry/Business, Corporate Performance, Economics and Business, Environmental Law, Social Science, environmental policy case studies, compliance assistance, corporate environmental policy, enforcement strategy, policy making, corporate compliance, government intervention, environmental compliance determinants, information dissemination, audit policies, government-industry interaction, enforcement impact, environmental behaviorProgress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.