View Thread

Kevin and Raul,

Here is a short list of people that have investigated voluntary self-regulation, codes of conduct, standards, etc. I am sure I am missing some central names. My apologies if I have left you off the list. Several of these people are coming to Tuck's February conference on Institutional Mechanisms for Industry Self-Regulation (http://mba.tuck.dartmouth.edu/mechanisms/). In the next few days, we will be informing submitters of whether their paper has been accepted. After that we will post a program.

Partial list of scholars in this area (not all focus on the environment):

Pete Andrews
Tima Bansal
Michael Barnett
David Baron
Scott Barrett
Lori Bennear
Mary Benner
Petra Christmann
Cary Coglianese
Nicole Darnall
Magali Delmas
Jeff Furman
Avner Grief
Mauro Guillen
Andrew Hoffman
Sanjay Jain
Ginger Jin
Jason Johnston
Andrew King
Paul Kleindorfer
Charles Kolstad
Howard Kunreuther
Michael Lenox
Michael Lounsbury
Thomas Lyon
Alfred Marcus
John Maxwell
Jackson Nickerson
Eric Orts
Elinor Ostrom
Matt Potoski
Aseem Prakash
Joseph Rees
Forest Reinhardt
Lori Rosenkopf
Mike Russo
Jordan Siegel
Tim Simcoe
Scott Stern
Michael Toffel
David Vogel




Andrew King
Associate Professor of Business Administration
Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth
202 Chase Hall
Hanover, NH 03755
http://mba.tuck.dartmouth.edu/pages/faculty/andrew.king/

Cell: 603-359-0369
Office: 603-646-9185

Just to show how incomplete the list is, I realize I left off Jorge Rivera and I am sure 5 more will occur to me after I send this.

Andrew King
Associate Professor of Business Administration
Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth
202 Chase Hall
Hanover, NH 03755
http://mba.tuck.dartmouth.edu/pages/faculty/andrew.king/

Cell: 603-359-0369
Office: 603-646-9185

Raul,

... and a new book published this fall would be relevant to your questions:

==> New Book from The MIT Press <==
"Industrial Transformation - Environmental Policy Innovation in the United
States and Europe"
edited by Theo de Bruijn and Vicki Norberg-Bohm
http://mitpress.mit.edu/0262541815

- Kurt

__________________________________________________
Kurt Fischer
The Greening of Industry Network
tel 781.646.4596 fax 781.646.4189 kurt.fischer@greeningofindustry.org
JOIN GIN! http://www.greeningofindustry.org/

Dates to note:
February 17-18, 2006: Sustainable Regions and Global Trade, GIN workshop at
the School for International Training, Brattleboro, Vermont USA.
July 2-5, 2006: GIN2006, The 13th International Conference of the Greening
of Industry Network, Cardiff University, UK.

Andrew,

Worse off - I forgot to submit a paper proposal! I wanted to be there...

Thanks for the list!
Raul
----- Original Message -----
From: "Andrew A. King" <Andrew.A.King@Dartmouth.EDU>
To: <ONE-L@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU>
Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2005 10:03 AM
Subject: Re: What drives firms to engage in voluntary programs?


> Just to show how incomplete the list is, I realize I left off Jorge Rivera
> and I am sure 5 more will occur to me after I send this.
>
> Andrew King
> Associate Professor of Business Administration
> Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth
> 202 Chase Hall
> Hanover, NH 03755
> http://mba.tuck.dartmouth.edu/pages/faculty/andrew.king/
>
> Cell: 603-359-0369
> Office: 603-646-9185

Voluntary self regulation might work if the dominant discourse in the
organisation is about compliance with legislation, regulations and
standards. However, if the dominant discourse is about creating a
facade of compliance then voluntary self-regluation is an unreliable
approach and poses a danger on those who rely on the validity of the
voluntary self regulation.

There needs to be an audit program in place to ensure that what is
promised is happening as promised.

Lionel

Lionel Boxer CD PhD MBA BTech(IndEng) - 0411267256
Research Fellow - lionel.boxer@rmit.edu.au
Centre for Management Quality Research
Read The Sustainable Way - see http://intergon.net/tsw
Improvement Implementation: http://intergon.net

One of the main findings in the book Kurt Fischer refered to, is that voluntary programs need incentives that are often outside of those programs to be effective. Voluntary programs can be effective in stimulating firms to take win-win actions. Beyond that, firms need drivers external to the voluntary programs, for instance through the thread of regulation, or cost-sharing, technical assistance, procurement policies, etc.
The book concludes with:
"The overarching conclusion of the book is that voluntary, collaborative and information-based programs can play a useful role in a comprehensive strategy if they are carefully designed to fit with and complement the other elements of a nation's environmental policy system"

Theo

-----------------------------
dr. Theo de Bruijn
School of Business, Public Administration and Technology
CSTM University of Twente
PO Box 217 - 7500 AE Enschede - the Netherlands
phone +31-53 489 4234 / fax +31-53 489 4850
e-mail: theo.debruijn@utwente.nl
WEBsite CSTM: http://www.utwente.nl/cstm
WEBsite GIN: http://www.greeningofindustry.org

==> New Book from The MIT Press <==
"Industrial Transformation - Environmental Policy Innovation in the United States and Europe"
edited by Theo de Bruijn and Vicki Norberg-Bohm
http://mitpress.mit.edu/0262541815 <http://mitpress.mit.edu/0262541815>

________________________________

Van: Organizations and the Natural Environment Discussion namens Kurt Fischer
Verzonden: di 6-12-2005 17:07
Aan: ONE-L@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
Onderwerp: Re: What drives firms to engage in voluntary programs?



Raul,

... and a new book published this fall would be relevant to your questions:

==> New Book from The MIT Press <==
"Industrial Transformation - Environmental Policy Innovation in the United
States and Europe"
edited by Theo de Bruijn and Vicki Norberg-Bohm
http://mitpress.mit.edu/0262541815

- Kurt

__________________________________________________
Kurt Fischer
The Greening of Industry Network
tel 781.646.4596 fax 781.646.4189 kurt.fischer@greeningofindustry.org
JOIN GIN! http://www.greeningofindustry.org/

Dates to note:
February 17-18, 2006: Sustainable Regions and Global Trade, GIN workshop at
the School for International Training, Brattleboro, Vermont USA.
July 2-5, 2006: GIN2006, The 13th International Conference of the Greening
of Industry Network, Cardiff University, UK.

Very well put Theo. That is my perception too - from research
(http://intergon.net/phd) experience in industry
(http://intergon.net/ljb-cv.html) .

Lionel Boxer CD PhD MBA BTech(IndEng) - 0411267256
Research Fellow - lionel.boxer@rmit.edu.au
Centre for Management Quality Research
Read The Sustainable Way - see http://intergon.net/tsw
Improvement Implementation: http://intergon.net
>>> T.J.N.M.deBruijn@BBT.UTWENTE.NL 12/07/05 6:46 PM >>>
One of the main findings in the book Kurt Fischer refered to, is that
voluntary programs need incentives that are often outside of those
programs to be effective. Voluntary programs can be effective in
stimulating firms to take win-win actions. Beyond that, firms need
drivers external to the voluntary programs, for instance through the
thread of regulation, or cost-sharing, technical assistance, procurement
policies, etc.
The book concludes with:
"The overarching conclusion of the book is that voluntary, collaborative
and information-based programs can play a useful role in a comprehensive
strategy if they are carefully designed to fit with and complement the
other elements of a nation's environmental policy system"

Theo

-----------------------------
dr. Theo de Bruijn
School of Business, Public Administration and Technology
CSTM University of Twente
PO Box 217 - 7500 AE Enschede - the Netherlands
phone +31-53 489 4234 / fax +31-53 489 4850
e-mail: theo.debruijn@utwente.nl
WEBsite CSTM: http://www.utwente.nl/cstm
WEBsite GIN: http://www.greeningofindustry.org

==> New Book from The MIT Press <==
"Industrial Transformation - Environmental Policy Innovation in the
United States and Europe"
edited by Theo de Bruijn and Vicki Norberg-Bohm
http://mitpress.mit.edu/0262541815 <http://mitpress.mit.edu/0262541815>

________________________________

Van: Organizations and the Natural Environment Discussion namens Kurt
Fischer
Verzonden: di 6-12-2005 17:07
Aan: ONE-L@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
Onderwerp: Re: What drives firms to engage in voluntary programs?



Raul,

... and a new book published this fall would be relevant to your
questions:

==> New Book from The MIT Press <==
"Industrial Transformation - Environmental Policy Innovation in the
United
States and Europe"
edited by Theo de Bruijn and Vicki Norberg-Bohm
http://mitpress.mit.edu/0262541815

- Kurt

__________________________________________________
Kurt Fischer
The Greening of Industry Network
tel 781.646.4596 fax 781.646.4189 kurt.fischer@greeningofindustry.org
JOIN GIN! http://www.greeningofindustry.org/

Dates to note:
February 17-18, 2006: Sustainable Regions and Global Trade, GIN workshop
at
the School for International Training, Brattleboro, Vermont USA.
July 2-5, 2006: GIN2006, The 13th International Conference of the
Greening
of Industry Network, Cardiff University, UK.

I agree with Theo. In an article Marc Anderson and I will publish in the
Journal of Management on the grocery industry we reach a similar
conclusion, that business incentives are not enough and that programs of
technical assistance and firm mission are needed to supplement them. best,
Alfie

Further to the excellent recommendations everyone has made, I wish to clarify a point though... I am interested in why firms adopt voluntary programs, not in how effective these programs are. These are two related but different questions.

In regards to effectiveness of voluntary programs, as indicated by the work of many researchers, voluntary policy instruments are not a substitute for regulation, but a good complement.

Best wishes,
Raul



--
--Raul

--------------------------------
Raul Pacheco
pachecoh@interchange.ubc.ca

I can't see how one can make any generalizations about voluntary programs without being much more careful and specific. VPs come in numerous forms and with numerous intentions. They vary widely in the degree of institutional structure, breadth, and application. Their eventual economic effect varies from performance improvement to market signaling to collusion. (This is a grossly incomplete list).

To illustrate my point:
1) Trade associations often disseminate information that encapsulates information about how to achieve greater profits. Firms might voluntary use this information to achieve private gain. No outside pressure may be necessary.
2) Certification programs (on the other hand) are often about solving asymmetric information problems. A firm may participate in these programs for private gain, but their choice to participate or not will be contingent on the premium they can expect from external agents and the contingent cost of participating.
3) Cartel-like programs allow collusion around performance standards. These may be subject to free riding. Participation decision may entail complex analysis of the strategic response of other firms.

This is a overly simplistic analysis, but it begins to show the danger of general claims.


Andrew King
Associate Professor of Business Administration
Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth
202 Chase Hall
Hanover, NH 03755
http://mba.tuck.dartmouth.edu/pages/faculty/andrew.king/

Cell: 603-359-0369
Office: 603-646-9185

Theo

You will be happy to know your book is in our library here in
Melbourne, Australia. However, it appears too clean to have been read -
hopefully my citation of it will change that.

Lionel

Lionel Boxer CD PhD MBA BTech(IndEng) - 0411267256
Research Fellow - lionel.boxer@rmit.edu.au
Centre for Management Quality Research
Read The Sustainable Way - see http://intergon.net/tsw
Improvement Implementation: http://intergon.net

>>> T.J.N.M.deBruijn@BBT.UTWENTE.NL 07/12/2005 6:46 pm >>>
One of the main findings in the book Kurt Fischer refered to, is that
voluntary programs need incentives that are often outside of those
programs to be effective. Voluntary programs can be effective in
stimulating firms to take win-win actions. Beyond that, firms need
drivers external to the voluntary programs, for instance through the
thread of regulation, or cost-sharing, technical assistance, procurement
policies, etc.
The book concludes with:
"The overarching conclusion of the book is that voluntary,
collaborative and information-based programs can play a useful role in a
comprehensive strategy if they are carefully designed to fit with and
complement the other elements of a nation's environmental policy
system"

Theo

-----------------------------
dr. Theo de Bruijn
School of Business, Public Administration and Technology
CSTM University of Twente
PO Box 217 - 7500 AE Enschede - the Netherlands
phone +31-53 489 4234 / fax +31-53 489 4850
e-mail: theo.debruijn@utwente.nl
WEBsite CSTM: http://www.utwente.nl/cstm
WEBsite GIN: http://www.greeningofindustry.org

==> New Book from The MIT Press <==
"Industrial Transformation - Environmental Policy Innovation in the
United States and Europe"
edited by Theo de Bruijn and Vicki Norberg-Bohm
http://mitpress.mit.edu/0262541815 <http://mitpress.mit.edu/0262541815>


________________________________

Van: Organizations and the Natural Environment Discussion namens Kurt
Fischer
Verzonden: di 6-12-2005 17:07
Aan: ONE-L@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
Onderwerp: Re: What drives firms to engage in voluntary programs?



Raul,

... and a new book published this fall would be relevant to your
questions:

==> New Book from The MIT Press <==
"Industrial Transformation - Environmental Policy Innovation in the
United
States and Europe"
edited by Theo de Bruijn and Vicki Norberg-Bohm
http://mitpress.mit.edu/0262541815

- Kurt

__________________________________________________
Kurt Fischer
The Greening of Industry Network
tel 781.646.4596 fax 781.646.4189
kurt.fischer@greeningofindustry.org
JOIN GIN! http://www.greeningofindustry.org/

Dates to note:
February 17-18, 2006: Sustainable Regions and Global Trade, GIN
workshop at
the School for International Training, Brattleboro, Vermont USA.
July 2-5, 2006: GIN2006, The 13th International Conference of the
Greening
of Industry Network, Cardiff University, UK.