Participation In Voluntary Programs Research Articles

Green shipping networks as drivers of decarbonization in offshore shipping companies

Within the next 30 years, shipping companies must find their zero-emissions route. However, there is no consensus on which technologies and fuels are the most appropriate to decarbonize shipping. Shipping companies are now navigating the flows of trends and new technologies and fuels. At the same time, the “cluster trend” raises expectations that “green networks,” “green clusters” and “cleantech clusters” will aid sustainability transitions. This qualitative multiple case study of three Norwegian offshore shipping companies analyzes the drivers that shape the companies’ strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with particular focus on how the strategies are impacted by membership in green shipping networks. Process tracing is used to track the case companies’ approaches to emissions reduction from 2008 to 2020, the main drivers of emissions reduction, and whether changes in strategy are linked to network membership. This study finds that the main drivers have been initiatives by internal key persons, participation in voluntary programs, mandatory regulations, and customer demand. The analysis shows no major shifts in strategy after joining a green shipping network; however, it does show two ways that network membership may impact the way shipping companies work with emissions reduction. First, membership can lead to adjustments and smaller changes as shipping companies collect information about new trends and technologies. Second, one-on-one guidance and support for preparing funding applications from network administrations may lead to the adoption of zero-emissions technology or fuels.

In the LEED: Racing to the Top in Environmental Self‐Regulation

AbstractDoes voluntary participation in eco‐certification become more substantive over time, or less? Although past research on voluntary programs suggests that later participants are more likely to greenwash by only symbolically adopting voluntary standards, theories of regulatory competition suggest a possible “race to the top.” We argue that participation in voluntary programs can facilitate competition that enables a race, and we advance a theory of self‐regulatory competition to explain dynamics of participation in voluntary environmental programs. Under this perspective, environmental self‐regulation may facilitate a race to the top, despite possibilities for purely symbolic adoption. Analyzing data from a voluntary green building certification program in the United States, we introduce a methodology to distinguish propensities for symbolic certification from more substantive environmental performance. Data demonstrate that later adopters invest additional resources to attain higher certification, becoming greener and suggesting a race to the top in a voluntary greenbuilding certification program.

Japan's policy to reduce emissions of volatile organic compounds: factors that facilitate industry participation in voluntary actions

Existing research on business participation in voluntary environmental programs emphasizes a variety of explanations, including regulatory pressure and incentives, market pressure, self-regulation, and firm size. However, most of this literature focuses on cases from North America and Europe. The contribution of this research is to examine how well this literature applies to a different geographical region and policy context by examining the case of Japan's recent policy mix to reduce emissions of volatile organic compounds following revisions to Japan's Air Pollution Control Law. The scientific and policy significance of this case includes a high level of private sector voluntary participation and a sizable reduction in volatile organic compound emissions (44.1 percent). Moreover, the case is related to the major global air pollution priorities of particulate matter and ozone, since volatile organic compounds are important precursors of these two secondary pollutants. This was also the first case in Japan's environmental policy to use a combination of regulatory and voluntary approaches. This study draws upon records of official policy discussions, data related to relevant industry associations, and other primary source documents to test hypotheses on participation in voluntary programs for two relatively large emitting industries with high emission capture rates in Japan: the chemical and printing industries. The results indicate that explanations for the participation of Japanese firms are largely consistent with arguments based on North American and European cases regarding regulatory pressure and incentives, market pressure, and self-regulation, but only partially consistent regarding the role of firm size. The analysis shows that there were similarities and differences in the factors influencing the participation of the two industries which were partly related to industrial associations and industrial structure. In addition, the results highlight the importance of two points which are less emphasized by existing literature, the business-government bargaining process, and how to maintain the credibility of regulatory threats and avoid regulatory capture. Several policy implications for the design of voluntary approaches are presented.

Farmer Participation in U.S. Farm Bill Conservation Programs

Conservation policy in agricultural systems in the United States relies primarily on voluntary action by farmers. Federal conservation programs, including the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, offer incentives, both financial and technical, to farmers in exchange for adoption of conservation practices. Understanding motivations for (as well as barriers to) participation in voluntary programs is important for the design of future policy and effective outreach. While a significant literature has explored motivations and barriers to conservation practice adoption and participation in single programs, few studies in the U.S. context have explored general participation by farmers in one place and time. A mixed-methods research approach was utilized to explore farmer participation in all U.S. Farm Bill programs in Indiana. Current and past program engagement was high, with nearly half of survey respondents reporting participation in at least one program. Most participants had experience with the Conservation Reserve Program, with much lower participation rates in other programs. Most interview participants who had experience in programs were motivated by the environmental benefits of practices, with incentives primarily serving to reduce the financial and technical barriers to practice adoption. The current policy arrangement, which offers multiple policy approaches to conservation, offers farmers with different needs and motivations a menu of options. However, evidence suggests that the complexity of the system may be a barrier that prevents participation by farmers with scarce time or resources. Outreach efforts should focus on increasing awareness of program options, while future policy must balance flexibility of programs with complexity.

Constructing the License to Operate: Internal Factors and Their Influence on Corporate Environmental Decisions

Voluntary programs intended to improve corporate environmental practices have proliferated in recent years. Why some businesses choose to participate in such voluntary programs, while others do not, remains an open question. Recent work suggests that companies’ environmental practices, including their decisions to participate in voluntary programs, are shaped by a license to operate comprised of social, regulatory, and economic pressures. Although these external factors do matter, by themselves they only partially explain business decision making, since facilities subject to similar external factors often behave differently. In this article, we draw from organizational theory to explain why we would expect a company's license to operate to be ultimately constructed by internal factors, such as managerial incentives, organizational culture, and organizational identity, as these shape both interpretations of the external pressures and organizational responses to them. Using qualitative data from an exploratory study of matched facilities that reached different decisions about participating in a prominent voluntary environmental program, we then report evidence indicative of the role of these internal factors in shaping facilities’ environmental decisions. Finally, we offer suggestions for future research that could further develop understanding of how internal organizational characteristics influence environmental management decisions, including those concerning participation in voluntary programs.

Motivations for Voluntary Environmental Management

This article examines the motivations for firms to participate in voluntary environmental programs and to adopt environmental management practices using data gathered from a survey conducted in 2005 of facilities located in Oregon operating in six industrial sectors. It is one of the first studies of voluntary environmental management to include small‐, medium‐, and large‐sized facilities as well as to include both privately and publicly owned facilities. In particular, we examine the effects of both external factors such as regulatory, consumer, and investor pressures, and internal factors such as technical and resource capacity, in influencing voluntary environmental behavior. The intent is to describe potential influences that have implications for designing and implementing private and public policies that foster effective voluntary environmental management by firms. We find that larger facilities are more likely to participate in more voluntary environmental programs, but are likely to adopt more environmental management practices only if environmental issues are of significant concern to them. Presence of an R&D department stimulates the adoption of more environmental management practices, particularly if environmental issues are of significant concern to the facility, but does not have a statistically significant impact on participation in voluntary programs. We also find that while regulatory pressures are significant in motivating participation in voluntary programs and adoption of environmental management practices, competitive pressures are only important in motivating the former. Pressure from final good consumers or from investors in publicly traded facilities is not found to have a significant influence on voluntary environmental behavior of facilities in this study.

Preventing horticultural introductions of invasive plants: potential efficacy of voluntary initiatives

Although prevention is the most cost- effective way to avoid the enormous expenses associated with plant invasions, invasive plants continue to be imported as trade commodities for horticultural use. With very little government regulation of horticultural imports of invasive plants, efforts have turned toward fostering volun- tary initiatives to encourage self-regulation by the horticulture trade. Our study takes the first step toward evaluating the potential success of these voluntary initiatives. We conducted a survey of nursery professionals to gauge their perceptions of invasive species, the role of the horticulture trade in invasive plant introductions, and their participa- tion—potential and actual—in preventive mea- sures outlined in the St Louis Voluntary Codes of Conduct for nursery professionals. We found nurs- ery professionals to be highly aware of invasive plants and to accept responsibility as a trade for horticultural introductions. Although only 7% of respondents had heard of the St Louis Voluntary Codes of Conduct, the majority (57%) reported having participated in at least two of seven preventive measures, and most (78%) reported willingness to engage in the majority of preventive measures. We found that several factors signifi- cantly predict increased participation in preventive measures, particularly awareness of invasive plants and involvement in trade associations. We also identified incentives and obstacles to participating in preventive behaviors, including ''concern for the environment'' and ''lack of information,'' respec- tively. Our results suggest that participation in voluntary initiatives will improve through increased outreach, and we provide specific recommenda- tions for improving participation in voluntary programs in the horticulture trade.

Adding value with enhanced QEHS programs: Ten important lessons

Environmental Quality ManagementVolume 16, Issue 3 p. 95-102 Columns Adding value with enhanced QEHS programs: Ten important lessons Robert B. Pojasek, Robert B. Pojasek rpojasek@xlp.com SAI Global—Professional Services N.A., Southbury, ConnecticutSearch for more papers by this author Robert B. Pojasek, Robert B. Pojasek rpojasek@xlp.com SAI Global—Professional Services N.A., Southbury, ConnecticutSearch for more papers by this author First published: 04 April 2007 https://doi.org/10.1002/tqem.20134Citations: 1AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume16, Issue3Spring 2007Pages 95-102 RelatedInformation

Constructing the License to Operate: Internal Factors and Their Influence on Corporate Environmental Decisions

Voluntary programs intended to improve corporate environmental practices have proliferated in recent years. Why some businesses choose to participate in such voluntary programs, while others do not, remains an open question. Recent work suggests that companies' environmental practices, including their decisions to participate in voluntary programs, are shaped by a license to operate comprised of social, regulatory, and economic pressures. Although these external factors do matter, by themselves they only partially explain business decision making, since facilities subject to similar external factors often behave differently. In this article, we draw from organizational theory to explain why we would expect a company's license to operate to be ultimately constructed by internal factors, such as managerial incentives, organizational culture, and organizational identity, as these shape both interpretations of the external pressures and organizational responses to them. Using qualitative data from an exploratory study of matched facilities that reached different decisions about participating in a prominent voluntary environmental program, we then report evidence indicative of the role of these internal factors in shaping facilities' environmental decisions. Finally, we offer suggestions for future research that could further develop understanding of how internal organizational characteristics influence environmental management decisions, including those concerning participation in voluntary programs.

Chief executive officers and voluntary environmental performance: Costa Rica's certification for sustainable tourism

This study evaluates whether the education, environmental expertise, and nationality of firms' chief executive officers (CEOs) are associated with greater participation and environmental performance in a voluntary environmental program implemented in a developing nation. Specifically, we collected data from the Certification for Sustainable Tourism (CST) program, a voluntary initiative aimed at promoting beyond-compliance environmental performance by hotels operating in Costa Rica. Our findings suggest that CEOs' level of formal education and environmental expertise appear to be significantly associated with higher corporate participation in voluntary programs and also with higher beyond-compliance environmental performance ratings. Contrary to conventional expectations, CEOs from industrialized countries (as opposed to developing countries) do not appear to show a statistically significant association with participation in the CST program and with higher beyond-compliance environmental performance.