Does industry self-regulation reduce pollution? Responsible Care in the chemical industry

Journal of Regulatory Economics

Volumn 43, Issue 1, 2013, Pages 1-30

  Gamper Rabindran, Shanti ^a   Finger, Stephen R ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA   (United States)

Author keywords

Chemical industry; Corporate Social Responsibility; Greenwash; Self regulation; Self selection; Voluntary programs

Indexed keywords

EID: 84863007954     PISSN: 0922680X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s11149-012-9197-0     Document Type: Article

References (65)

1. American Chemistry Council (ACC) [formerly known as the Chemical Manufacturers' Association.] (1990). Responsible Care: Codes of management practices. Archived at the International Labor Organization Corporate Codes of Conduct. Retrieved from http://actrav. itcilo. org/actrav-english/telearn/global/ilo/code/responsi. htm.
2. American Petroleum Institute (API). (2005). Toxic release inventory burden reduction proposed rule; TRI-2005-0073; RFL-7532-8; 70 federal register 57822-57847, October 4. Washington DC: Office of Environmental Information Docket, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Docket ID No. TRI-2005-0073.
3. Arellano M., Bond S. (1991) Some tests of specification for panel data: Monte Carlo evidence and an application to employment equations. The Review of Economic Studies 58(2): 277-297.
4. Arellano M., Bover O. (1995) Another look at the instrumental variable estimation of error components models. Journal of Econometrics 68(1): 29-51.
5. Arora S., Cason T. N. (1995) An Experiment in voluntary environmental regulation: Participation in EPA's 33/50 program. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 28(3): 271-286.
6. Arora S., Cason T. N. (1999) Do community characteristics influence environmental outcomes? evidence from the toxics release inventory. Southern Economic Journal 65(4): 691-716.
7. Bae H., Popp D., Wilcoxen P. (2010) Information disclosure policy: Does states' data processing efforts help more than the information disclosure itself?. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 29(1): 163-182.
8. Barnett M., King A. (2008) Good fences make good neighbors: A longitudinal analysis of an industry self-regulatory institution. Academy of Management Journal 51(6): 1150-1170.
9. Baron D. P. (2001) Private politics, corporate social responsibility, and integrated strategy. Journal of Economics and Management Strategy 10(v): 7-45.
10. Berry S., Levinsohn J., Pakes A. (1995) Automobile prices in market equilibrium. Econometrica 63(4): 841-890.
11. Blundell R., Bond S. (1998) Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data methods. Journal of Econometrics 87(1): 111-143.
12. Blundell R., Bond S. (2000) GMM estimation with persistent panel data: An application to production functions. Econometrics Reviews 19(3): 321-340.
13. Brouhle K., Griffiths C., Wolverton A. (2009) Evaluating the role of EPA policy levers: An examination of a voluntary program and regulatory threat in the metal-finishing industry. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 57(2): 166-181.
14. Calcott P. (2010) Mandated self-regulation: The danger of cosmetic compliance. Journal of Regulatory Economics 38(2): 167-179.
15. Cohen, M. A., Gottlieb, M., Linn, J., Richardson, N. (2011). Deepwater drilling: Law, policy, and economics of firm organization and safety. Resources for the Future Discussion Paper 10-65.
16. Cole M. A., Elliott R. J. R., Shimamoto K. (2005) Industrial characteristics, environmental regulations and air pollution: An analysis of the UK manufacturing sector. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 50(1): 121-143.
17. Dawson N. L., Segerson K. (2008) Voluntary agreements with industries: Participation incentives with industry-wide targets. Land Economics 84(1): 97-114.
18. DeCanio S. J., Watkins W. E. (1998) Investment in energy efficiency: Do the characteristics of firms matter?. Review of Economics and Statistics 80(1): 95-107.
19. Dlouhy, J. A. (2011). Safety plans could clash, offshore drillers pressured to form watchdog. Houston Chronicle, January 9.
20. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). (2007). Green book: The green book nonattainment areas for critical pollutants. Retrieved from http://www. epa. gov/oar/oaqps/greenbk.
21. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). (2009). EPA's risk screening environmental indicators (RSEI), February. Methodology Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics.
22. Gamper-Rabindran S. (2006) Did the EPA's voluntary industrial toxics program reduce pollution? a gis analysis of distributional impacts and by-media analysis of substitution. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 52(1): 391-410.
23. General Accounting Office (GAO). (2011). Private fund advisers: Although a self-regulatory organization could supplement sec oversight, it would present challenges and trade-offs. Report to Congressional Committees, GAO-11-623.
24. Givel M. (2007) Motivation of chemical industry social responsibility through Responsible Care. Health Policy 81(1): 85-92.
25. Glachant M. (2007) Non-binding voluntary agreements. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 54(1): 32-48.
26. Greenstone M. (2003) Estimating regulation-induced substitution: The effect of the clean air act on water and ground pollution. American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings 93(2): 442-448.
27. Gunningham N. (1995) Environment, self-regulation and the chemical industry: Assessing Responsible Care. Law and Policy 17(1): 57-109.
28. Hamilton J. T. (1995) Testing for environmental racism: Prejudice, profits, political power?. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 14(1): 107-132.
29. Hamilton J. T. (2005) Regulation through revelation: The origin, politics, and impacts of the toxics release inventory program. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
30. Hartman R. S. (1988) Self-selection bias in the evaluation of voluntary energy conservation programs. Review of Economics and Statistics 70(3): 448-458.
31. Heckman J. J., Ichimura H., Todd P. E. (1997) Matching as an econometric evaluation estimator: Evidence from evaluating a job training programme. Review of Economic Studies 64(4): 605-654.
32. Hoffman A. (2000) Competitive environmental strategy: A guide to the changing business landscape. Island Press, Washington, DC.
33. Innes R., Sam A. G. (2008) Voluntary pollution reductions and the enforcement of environmental law: An empirical study of the 33/50 program. Journal of Law Economics 51(2): 271-296.
34. International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA). (2008). Responsible Care Status Report 2008. Retrieved from http://www. icca-chem. org/ICCADocs/Status_Report_2008. pdf.
35. King A., Lenox M. (2000) Industry self-regulation without sanctions: The chemical industry's Responsible Care program. Academy of Management Journal 43(4): 698-716.
36. Kleindorfer P. R., Orts E. (1998) Informational regulation of environmental risks. Risk Analysis 18(2): 155-170.
37. Konar S., Cohen M. A. (2001) Does the market value environmental performance?. Review of Economics and Statistics 83(2): 281-289.
38. Lange, I. (2009) Evaluating voluntary measures with treatment spillovers: The case of coal combustion products partnership. B. E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, 9(1), article 36.
39. Lenox M., Nash J. (2003) Industry self-regulation and adverse selection: A comparison across four trade association programs. Business Strategy and Environment 12(6): 343-356.
40. Levinson, A. (2004). Review of new tools for environmental protection: Education, information, and voluntary measures. In T. Dietz & P. C. Stern (Eds.). March 24. Journal of Economic Literature, 42(1), 171-231.
41. Lyon T. P., Kim E.-H. (2011) Strategic environmental disclosure: Evidence from the doe's voluntary greenhouse gas registry. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 61(3): 311-326.
42. Lyon T. P., Maxwell J. W. (2004) Corporate environmentalism and public policy. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
43. Lyon T. P., Maxwell J. W. (2007) Environmental public voluntary programs reconsidered. Policy Studies Journal 35(4): 723-750.
44. Lyon T. P., Maxwell J. W. (2011) Greenwash: Corporate environmental disclosure under threat of audit. Journal of Economics and Management Strategy 20(1): 3-41.
45. Maxwell J. W., Decker C. (2006) Voluntary environmental investment and responsive regulation. Environmental Resource Economics 33(4): 425-439.
46. Maxwell J. W., Lyon T., Hackett S. (2000) Self-regulation and social welfare: The political economy of corporate environmentalism. Journal of Law and Economics 63(43): 583-617.
47. Moffet, J., Bregha, F., & Middelkoop, M. J. (2004). Responsible Care: A case study of a voluntary environmental initiative. In K. Webb (Ed.), Voluntary codes: Private governance, the public interest and innovation (pp. 177-208). Ottawa, Canada: Carleton Research Unit for Innovation, Science and Environment.
48. Morgenstern, R., & Pizer, W. A. (2007) Reality check: The nature and performance of voluntary environmental programs in the United States, Europe, and Japan. Washington DC: RFF Press.
49. National Academy of Engineering; National Research Council. (2010). Interim report on causes of the deepwater horizon oil rig blowout and ways to prevent such events. Committee for the Analysis of Causes of the Deepwater Horizon Explosion, Fire, and Oil Spill to Identify Measures to Prevent Similar Accidents in the Future.
50. National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling (NCBP). (2011). Deep water: The gulf oil disaster and the future of offshore drilling. Part I: Report to the President, Part II Recommendations.
51. Nevo A. (2000) Mergers with differentiated products: The case of the ready-to-eat cereal industry. RAND Journal of Economics 31(3): 395-421.
52. Nickell S. (1981) Biases in dynamic models with fixed effects. Econometrica 49(6): 1417-1426.
53. Oehlert G. W. (1992) A note on the delta method. The American Statistician 46(1): 27-29.
54. O'Rourke D. (2003) Outsourcing regulation: Analyzing nongovernmental systems of labor standards and monitoring. Policy Studies Journal 31(1): 1-29.
55. Pettit, D. (2010). The more things change at MMS... David Pettit's blog at the Natural Resources Defense Council, June 14, 2010. Retrieved from http://switchboard. nrdc. org/blogs/dpettit/the_more_things_change_at_mms. html.
56. Pizer, W. A., Morgenstern, R., & Shih, J.-S. (2011). The Performance of industrial sector voluntary climate programs: Climate wise and 1605 (b). Energy Policy.
57. Potoski M., Prakash A. (2005) Covenants with weak swords: ISO 14001 and firms' environmental performance. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 24(4): 745-769.
58. Prakash A. (2000) Responsible Care: An assessment. Business Society 39(2): 183-209.
59. Rees J. V. (1997) The development of communitarian regulation in the chemical industry. Law and Policy 17(4): 477-528.
60. Roodman, D. (2008). How to do xtabond2: An introduction to "difference" and "system" GMM in stata. Center for Global Development working paper, Washington DC.
61. Rosenbaum P. R., Rubin D. B. (1983) The central role of the propensity score in observational studies for causal effects. Biometrika 70(1): 41-55.
62. Rosenthal, I., & Kunreuther H. (2010). Roles for third parties in implementing usda food safety and inspection service (FSIS)'s food safety process management programs. Risk Management and Decision Processes Center, The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
63. van Asten M., Martinson C. (2005) MON MACT impact. Products Finishing 70(3): 54-59.
64. Wooldridge J. (2010) Econometric analysis of cross section and panel data. MIT Press, Cambridge.
65. Windmeijer F. (2005) A finite sample correction for the variance of linear two-step GMM estimators. Journal of Econometrics 126(1): 25-51.