Environmental Regulatory Reform Research Articles

Impact of environmental supervision reform on green innovation in mineral enterprises

This study aims to investigate the impact of environmental regulatory reform on the green innovation performance of mineral enterprises and the transformation of mineral cities. It analyzes the progress in the green innovation performance and urban transformation of mineral enterprises. Besides, the study categorizes environmental supervision system reform, green innovation performance of mineral enterprises, and urban transformation into distinct dimensions and establishes research hypotheses. Testing is performed through a questionnaire and subsequent data analysis. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the questionnaire. Furthermore, the overall assessment received an average score of 3.8, signifying that most participants held relatively positive views regarding environmental regulatory system reform. The standard deviation of the scores was 0.97, indicating some diversity and variations in individual overall assessments. Hence, this study contributes to the green innovation performance of mineral enterprises and the transformation of mineral cities under environmental regulatory system reform.

Dynamic Impact of Environmental Regulation on Environmental Performance in China: New Evidence from a Semiparametric Additive Panel Analysis

Environmental protection is the core of sustainable economic development, and environmental policy plays a key role in achieving protection goals. Therefore, it is extremely crucial to evaluate the effectiveness of environmental policies. Existing studies mainly focus on the average impact of environmental policies on environmental pollution but ignore their dynamic impact, which is prone to misestimate the effect of environmental policies. To make up for the deficiency, a semiparametric additive panel data model is used to explore the dynamic impact of China’s sewage charging policy on environmental performance at each level of the levy. The results show that the relationship between sewage charge level and environmental degeneration is an “M-shaped” pattern, indicating that the current sewage charge policy is not absolutely effective. Moreover, the results also reveal an “N-shaped” linkage between economic growth and environmental pollution, indicating that economic development is not sustainable. Moreover, the factors of energy consumption, population growth, and industrialization contribute to increasing environmental degeneration. Although technological development has a positive impact on environmental performance, its impact is insignificant. This study could provide new evidence for strengthening environmental regulatory reform and promoting green economic development.

Better by design: Business preferences for environmental regulatory reform

We present the preferences for environmental regulatory reform expressed by 30 UK businesses and industry bodies from 5 sectors. While five strongly preferred voluntary regulation, seven expressed doubts about its effectiveness, and 18 expressed no general preference between instrument types. Voluntary approaches were valued for flexibility and lower burdens, but direct regulation offered stability and a level playing field. Respondents sought regulatory frameworks that: are coherent; balance clarity, prescription and flexibility; are enabled by positive regulatory relationships; administratively efficient; targeted according to risk magnitude and character; evidence-based and that deliver long-term market stability for regulatees. Anticipated differences in performance between types of instrument can be undermined by poor implementation. Results underline the need for policy makers and regulators to tailor an effective mix of instruments for a given sector, and to overcome analytical, institutional and political barriers to greater coherence, to better coordinate existing instruments and tackle new environmental challenges as they emerge.

Voluntary Environmental Agreements in Developing Countries: The Colombian Experience

According to proponents, voluntary agreements (VAs) negotiated with polluters sidestep weak institutions and other barriers to conventional environmental regulation in developing countries. Yet little is known about their effectiveness. We examine VAs in Colombia, a global leader in the use of these policies. We find that the main motive for using VAs has been to build capacity needed for broader environmental regulatory reform. Their additional effect on environmental performance has been questionable. These findings suggest that in developing countries, VAs may be best suited to capacity building, not environmental management per se.

Voluntary environmental agreements in developing countries: the Colombian experience

Voluntary agreements (VAs) negotiated between environmental regulators and polluters are increasingly popular in developing countries. According to proponents, they can sidestep weak institutions and other pervasive barriers to conventional mandatory regulation in such countries. Yet little is known about the drivers of their use and their effectiveness in poor countries. The considerable literature on voluntary initiatives in industrialized countries, where both VAs and socioeconomic conditions differ, may not apply. Using a conceptual framework drawn from the economics literature, we examine four prominent VAs in Colombia, a global leader in the use of this policy. We find that the main motive for using VAs has been to build capacity needed for broader environmental regulatory reform and that partly as a result, VAs’ additional effect on environmental performance has been limited. These findings contrast with those from industrialized country studies, which typically conclude VAs are used as a low-cost substitute for impending mandatory regulation and have few benefits because of weak regulatory pressure. Our findings suggest that in developing countries, VAs may be best suited to capacity building, not environmental management per se.

Informing regulatory reform in Australian industry through mixed research: A post-hoc evaluation of research design

Despite the growing importance of sustainability and increasing industry and government concern about properly managing for sustainability, the use of mixed methods research to inform sustainability management issues in business is limited. For the Australian rail industry environmental regulation is a regulatory hotspot. The industry initiated a project to investigate the case for rail environmental regulatory reform. Research was undertaken in an integrated three-phase mixed research design, involving pilot case studies, review of academic literature and industry records and in-depth interviewing. Key findings from each phase are reported. This study is evaluated post-hoc in terms of recently published guidelines for conducting and reporting mixed research. The quantitative and qualitative findings from all three research phases suggest that the time is ripe for a more co-regulatory approach to rail environmental regulation. The paper is of interest to mixed researchers, as well as managers and regulators striving for more sustainable regulatory approaches.

Land Recycling, Community Revitalization, and Distributive Politics: An Analysis of EPA Brownfields Program Support

This article examines social, economic, and political factors influencing the distribution of resources to local governments under the EPA Brownfields Program, an innovative federal effort to encourage the remediation and redevelopment of contaminated properties. Signed into law in 2002, the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act provided the program with a congressional mandate, new tools to promote reuse such as liability protections, and increased funding up to a level of $250 million per year. This article contributes to research on environmental regulatory reform with an analysis of successful and unsuccessful local government applicants for EPA Brownfields Program support between 2003 and 2007. Building on prior research, we develop a series of expectations and an empirical model, and estimate the influence of program priorities, government and civic capacity, interest group pressures, and institutional politics. Results point to significant relationships between program priorities and award patterns. Contrary both to EPA's explicit commitments to equity and to analysis of pre‐2003 award patterns, however, we find negative correlations between the proportions of local populations that are nonwhite or low‐income and the likelihood of receiving an award. In addition, better‐resourced governments and several dimensions of political representation show strong associations with the likelihood of winning awards. We conclude by discussing implications.

Environmental Regulatory Reform in Poland: Lessons for Industrializing Economies

This paper examines the environmental regulatory reform in Poland during the 1990s and uses the findings to consider the extent to which elements of successful regulatory systems are transferable across national boundaries. Drawing on five case studies of privatized firms, a mailed questionnaire, and policy and institutional analysis, it investigates how Poland developed an effective system for managing industrial pollution while also achieving considerable socioeconomic progress. The fundamental legitimacy of the regulators and regulatory process, the availability of information about firms and regulatory intents, and the capacity for case-specific decision-making are among the key explanatory factors. The study also shows how in Poland a good “fit” between regulatory institutions and policies on one hand and their social context on the other hand has evolved, and how it contributes to the effectiveness of the regulatory system. Industrializing economies can indeed simultaneously pursue environmental pro...

Combined heat and power: how much carbon and energy can manufacturers save?

In this paper we analyze the potential for CHP in US manufacturing. We use typical efficiencies of today's available CHP technologies to estimate the technical potential for the frozen technology case. We find that if manufacturers in 1994 had self-generated all their steam and electric needs with existing cost-effective CHP technologies, they could have reduced carbon equivalent (=12/44 carbon dioxide) emissions by up to 30 million metric tons of carbon (MtC) or nearly 20 percent, and energy use by nearly an Exajoule (EJ). With growth in manufacturing and expected improvements in CHP technologies, this technical potential could be much larger. However, without environmental regulatory reform and innovation-oriented utility restructuring policies, actual CHP installed by US manufacturers could fall far short.

Environmental Regulatory Reform

Environmental Regulatory Reform

Proposals for Environmental Regulatory Reform Colloquium: Foreword

Proposals for Environmental Regulatory Reform Colloquium: Foreword

Environmental Regulatory Reform: Discussion

Carriker, Infanger, and Shabman and Stephenson have provided a set of papers related to the current debate over environmental regulatory reform. Each paper stands alone as a distinct and valuable contribution to the literature on this subject. Yet as a set they complement one another and form a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.Carriker, in his comprehensive overview of federal environmental policy in the U.S., painstakingly describes the origins, evolution, and impacts of nine major pieces of environmental legislation, and thus sets the stage for discussion of current issues and professional perspectives in the other two papers. Carriker's paper is well documented and should also serve as a good primer for students taking natural resource and environmental economics courses or contemplating graduate research in this area.

Environmental Regulatory Reform and the Unholy Trinity: Unfunded Mandates, Risk Assessment, and Property Rights

AbstractMajor regulatory reform issues which involve environmental policy include issues of unfunded mandates, risk assessment, and property rights. Each of these proposed reforms involves major changes in environmental policies with impacts on different groups. Property rights is the core issue in Congress and state legislatures, with both regulatory takings and just compensation being the major parameters. Economists can participate effectively in this policy debate with successful research and education programs addressing the divisive issues.

Federal Environmental Policy: A Summary Overview

AbstractThe National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which was signed into law on January 1,1970, has come to be regarded as the first major piece of federal legislation to call for comprehensive attention to environmental concerns in the United States. During the two decades following enactment of NEPA, Congress adopted and then refined major legislation on nearly every aspect of environmental quality concerns: air pollution, water pollution, drinking water quality, hazardous waste management, wildlife protection, pesticide use, and several related problem areas. Current arguments for environmental regulatory reform are a phase in the continuing evolution of this body of federal environmental policy.