Voluntary Environmental Programmes Research Articles

Trading off benefits and requirements: How do city networks attract cities to their voluntary environmental programmes?

AbstractVoluntary programmes provide city networks with a central link to their city members. These voluntary programmes provide cities with benefits (e.g., knowledge, recognition, access to resources) if they meet the city network's programme requirements. This article seeks to understand how city networks make trade‐offs between programme benefits and requirements to attract cities to the programmes they offer. We do so by analysing 55 voluntary programmes offered by 22 climate‐related city networks using qualitative comparative analysis (QCA). We are particularly interested in the design of voluntary programmes that attract large numbers of participants. We find three main insights. First, programmes with a clear, single benefit are more attractive to city members than programmes with a broad range of benefits. Second, the combination of programme requirements and commitments allows city networks to target cohorts of cities based on their capacities and needs. Finally, cities are attracted to programmes that do not explicitly ask for direct results.

What Roles are There for Government in Voluntary Environmental Programmes?

AbstractThis article seeks to understand to a greater extent why and how governments are involved in voluntary environmental programmes (VEPs). A better understanding of the role(s) of government in VEPs is of relevance because the current VEP literature considers such involvement one of the key conditions that may explain VEP performance. Building on the existing VEP literature, the article maps, describes and contrasts the roles of governments in 40 VEPs in the building sector in Australia, the Netherlands, Singapore and the United States. It finds that governments are involved in almost all of these VEPs (95 per cent) and that governments predominantly take up traditional roles (i.e. initiating and leading VEPs and monitoring and enforcing VEPs), sometimes combined with innovative roles (i.e. supporting VEPs or assembling VEPs). This, the article argues, leaves opportunities for other modes of involvement unexplored, particularly those in which governments take up only innovative roles in VEPs. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT IN VOLUNTARY ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMMES: A FUZZY SET QUALITATIVE COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

Voluntary Environmental Programmes (VEPs) have become increasingly popular in addressing environmental risks. While VEPs have attracted much scholarly attention, little is known about how they achieve their outcomes. This article seeks to better understand whether and how the roles of governments in VEPs affect their outcomes in terms of (1) attracting participants, and (2) their contribution to a desired collective end. Using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), this article addresses a series of 31 VEPs in the building sectors of Australia, the Netherlands, and the United States. Of particular interest is a better understanding of what configurations of five specific governmental roles in VEPs are sufficient to attract participants and contribute to a desired collective end. Three ideal type roles for governments in VEPs, that are positively related to the two outcomes under scrutiny, are uncovered, and the article concludes with lessons on how governments may be best involved in VEPs.

On the potential of voluntary environmental programmes for the built environment: a critical analysis of LEED

Voluntary environmental programmes (VEPs) are increasingly gaining traction as a means of improving the environmental performance of buildings and their occupants. These programmes are of interest because they incentivise developers, property owners and occupants to improve such performance voluntarily beyond what is required by governmental construction regulation. This article questions whether such programmes have the potential to affect the environmental and resource sustainability of the built environment to a significant extent. It first briefly reviews the extant literature on voluntary programmes as developed in policy sciences and governance studies. It then studies the performance of a leading, often lauded, VEP in the built environment: LEED. In spite of LEED’s impressive performance in absolute terms, this article concludes that LEED is a relatively poor performing VEP. This raises considerable questions about the potential of VEPs to improve sustainability in the built environment more generally.

Stakeholder pressure and hotel environmental performance in Accra, Ghana

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which primary and secondary stakeholders influence the environmental performance of hotels in Accra and whether size of hotel moderates stakeholder influence on the environmental performance of hotels.Design/methodology/approach– Environmental performance of the hotels was based on 33 variables in ten key areas of environmental management in the literature. Survey questionnaires were self-administered to a stratified random sample of managers of different categories of hotels in Accra.Findings– The findings point to the fact that primary stakeholders such as customers and board of directors had a more significant influence on the environmental performance of hotels while size of hotel moderates the effect of stakeholders on the environmental performance of hotels.Research limitations/implications– Future research should focus on unearthing other drivers of environmental performance of especially small to medium hotels as well as the obstacles to environmental management in such organizations.Practical implications– It is vital for hotels to manage the pressures exerted by stakeholders.Originality/value– In the context of a developing country like Ghana, experiencing sustained growth in hotel investment, governments should encourage voluntary environmental programmes to enhance environmental performance of hotels instead of regulations by state agencies.

Assessing participation in voluntary environmental programmes in the developing world: the role of FDI and export orientation on ISO14001 adoption in Thailand

Empirical assessments of the determinants of firm participation in Voluntary Environmental Programmes (VEPs) in the developing world are largely absent from the environmental regulation literature, leaving a number of important factors unique to such countries unexplored. This article examines these factors, namely the roles played by Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and export orientation, in addition to factors deemed important in the industrialized world context to the problem of ISO14001 adoption in one developing nation, Thailand. We make use of unique primary data from 494 firms, and focus on three important industries, the resource-based food and beverages industry, the labour-intensive textiles and wearing apparel industry, and the more high-technology electronics and electrical appliances industry. We find that FDI plays a role in ISO14001 adoption, especially FDI from Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and ISO14001-rich countries. Other important determinants include firm size, experience with ISO9000, and production of intermediate products. Firms faced with fewer obstacles to environmental improvements such as those facing lower costs, having more understanding of the procedure, and with greater access to the appropriate technology are also more likely to adopt ISO14001.

Different Shades of Green: Environmental Management in Hotels in Accra

AbstractThis paper assesses the environmental management practices of different categories of hotels in Accra, Ghana. Managers of 200 hotels were surveyed, employing the stratified random sampling method. Results of the study indicate significant differences in the extent of environmental management of the hotels suggesting that the better the quality of a hotel, the better the environmental management performance. Suggestions are made towards improvement in waste management and voluntary environmental programmes in small and medium hotels that did not perform well in those areas of environmental management Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

An exploration of golf and voluntary environmental programmes

Golf is a major and expanding sport, leisure and tourism activity with significant environmental impacts. The impacts of golf and other sports facilities are increasingly addressed through Voluntary Environmental Programmes (VEPs). Since the late-1980s, VEPs have gained popularity because they theoretically overcome the weaknesses of environmental legislation, improve environmental performance beyond minimum legal compliance and confer competitive advantage. Yet their effectiveness is contested and they are only partially accepted. There is very limited research on the growing participation of golf and other sports in VEPs. Our international review paper outlines the environmental impacts of golf, analyses the strategic ‘green’ pressures affecting the sport, reviews the theory and practice of VEPs, and draws conclusions on this under-researched field.

Analysis and selection of green suppliers using interpretative structural modelling and analytic hierarchy process

Due to recent changing environmental requirements, increasing attention is given to developing Environmental Management (EM) strategies for the supply chain. A number of organisations are contemplating the integration of environmental practices into their strategic plans. The daily operations are continuously increasing and numerous initiatives have provided incentives for organisations to become more environmental friendly. Some of these regulation-driven programmes are mandatory, but increasingly, numerous voluntary environmental programmes are also introduced by organisations. This study analyses the interaction of criteria that is used to select the green suppliers who address the environmental performance using Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The effectiveness of the ISM and AHP model is illustrated using a automobile company in the southern part of India.

Does an Endogenous Relationship Exist between Environmental and Economic Performance? A Resource-Based View on the Horticultural Sector

The aim of this paper is to analyse the relationship between environmental and economic performance from the resource-based theory within firms of the fresh fruit and vegetables sector. This study considers that the adoption of environment-friendly practices has a greater influence on firms’ opportunities and abilities in the agricultural sector than in manufacturing sectors and leads to closer links between performance variables. The reference for this empirical analysis is a panel data of horticultural farming-marketing firms in Spain. The voluntary environmental programmes and the heterogeneity of their application lead us to regard acquiring a competitive advantage as a relevant driver to improve environmental performance in this sector. A simultaneous equations model is suggested reflecting the differential environmental effect and the assumption of endogeneity among variables. The results show a positive impact of environmental differentiation on profitability and market share, also suggesting that the perception of this positive experience implies greater environmental performance.

Assessing the effectiveness of US voluntary environmental programmes: An empirical study

In the last 10 years, there has been an increased interest in improved environmental management. The interest has been made more noteworthy since it is global in nature. Given the global interest in improved environmental management, it is still important to understand how specific business organizations are influenced by the local environment in which they are located. This study examines how US plants have reacted to various programmes and initiatives encountered in the USA. These initiatives, which include Responsible Care ® , 33/50 and ISO 14001 certification, can be viewed as embodying alternative foci (outcome versus process) and procedures (self-assessment versus external assessment). The study assesses the relative effectiveness of four voluntary environmental programmes using data generated from a large-scale mail survey. The results indicate that while all four environmental programmes generate a positive impact on the various dimensions of corporate performance, one (ISO 14001 certification), tends to have a greater relative impact on several dimensions of corporate performance.