Regulatory Compliance when the Rule of Law Is Weak: Evidence from China’s Environmental Reform

Abstract

English Abstract: What drives regulatees’ behaviors when the institution of law is weak? This study seeks to answer the question by examining environmental regulation enforcement in China. Based on survey and interview data on Hong Kong-owned manufacturing enterprises in the Pearl River Delta Region, Guangdong Province, we found that their decisions to adopt basic and proactive environmental management practices were less driven by concerns for legality than by their perceptions of the regulators’ actions and gestures. Enterprises adopted basic environmental practices to avoid potential punishment, and they adopted more proactive practices to avoid potentially arbitrary impositions from regulatory officials. Regulated enterprises were more likely to adopt both basic and proactive environmental practices if they had less difficulties understanding the enforced regulations. These findings suggest important ways in which regulatory compliance behaviors in a developmental context may differ from those in Western countries.Chinese Abstract: 在法律制度薄弱的情况下，什么因素影响着受监管者的行为？此项研究通过审视中国环境保护法规的执行来解答这一问题。对位于广东省珠江三角洲的港资企业进行的问卷和采访表明，企业在决定是否采取基本的或是能动的环境管理措施时，基于对监管者的行为和态度的判断，比出于遵守法律的考虑更为重要。为防受惩罚，企业采取了基本的环境管理措施；而当监管官员的管理具有不确定性时，企业采取了更能动的环境管理措施。当被执行的规则更易理解时，企业则更可能采取基本以及能动的环境管理措施。这些研究结果表明在发展中国家，合规行为与在西方发达国家存在重大区别。