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Alternative Pollution Control Policies in Developing Countries: Informal, Informational, and Voluntary

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  • Blackman, Allen

    (Resources for the Future)

Abstract
In developing countries, weak environmental regulatory institutions often undermine conventional command-and-control policies. As a result, these countries are increasingly experimenting with alternative approaches that aim to leverage nonregulatory “green” pressures applied by local communities, capital markets, and consumers. This article reviews three strands of the empirical literature on this trend. The first strand examines the direct impact of nonregulatory pressures on developing country firms’ environmental performance. The second and third strands analyze policy innovations reputed to leverage these pressures -- public disclosure and voluntary regulation. I find that the econometric evidence that nonregulatory pressures have had a direct impact on firms’ environmental performance is thin, at least partly because disentangling such impacts is inherently difficult. Nevertheless, existing empirical research suggests that public disclosure programs have spurred emissions reductions by particularly dirty firms. The evidence on voluntary regulatory policies is far more mixed. Taken as a whole, the literature suggests that policymakers would do well to exercise caution in promoting and implementing alternative pollution control tools: they are only likely to be effective in some incarnations and situations.

Suggested Citation

  • Blackman, Allen, 2009. "Alternative Pollution Control Policies in Developing Countries: Informal, Informational, and Voluntary," RFF Working Paper Series dp-09-10, Resources for the Future.
    • Handle: RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-09-10
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Bei Xiong & Ruimei Wang, 2020. "Effect of Environmental Regulation on Industrial Solid Waste Pollution in China: From the Perspective of Formal Environmental Regulation and Informal Environmental Regulation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-17, October.
    3. Xueping Wu & Ming Gao & Shihong Guo & Rashid Maqbool, 2019. "Environmental and economic effects of sulfur dioxide emissions trading pilot scheme in China: A quasi-experiment," Energy & Environment, , vol. 30(7), pages 1255-1274, November.
    4. Bhaskar, Ratikant & Bansal, Shashank & Abbassi, Wajih & Pandey, Dharen Kumar, 2023. "CEO compensation and CSR: Economic implications and policy recommendations," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 232-256.
    5. D. W. Kinkini Hemachandra, 2015. "Adoption of Voluntary Environmental Practices: Evidence from the Textile and Apparel Industry in Sri Lanka," Working Papers id:7134, eSocialSciences.
    6. Bansal, Sangeeta & Khanna, Madhu & Sydlowski, Joseph, 2021. "Incentives for corporate social responsibility in India: Mandate, peer pressure and crowding-out effects," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    7. D. W. Kinkini Hemach & ra, "undated". "Adoption of Voluntary Environmental Practices: Evidence from the Textile and Apparel Industry in Sri Lanka," Working papers 93, The South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics.
    8. Van Hoof, Bernhardus & Correa, María Emilia, 2010. "Change and opportunity: corporate social responsibility as a source of competitiveness in small and medium enterprises in Latin America and the Caribbean," Studies and Perspectives – ECLAC Office in Washington 5074, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    developing country; pollution control; informal regulation; public disclosure; voluntary regulation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q52 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Pollution Control Adoption and Costs; Distributional Effects; Employment Effects
    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products

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