Corporate Environmental Behavior and the Effectiveness of Government Interventions PROCEEDINGS OF SESSION II: COMPLIANCE ISSUES A WORKSHOP SPONSORED BY THE U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY’S NATIONAL CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS

This research examines how traditional regulatory and voluntary approaches affect motivations foraddressing potential harms to water quality. The traditional approach consists of governmentalenforcement of mandatory requirements. The voluntary approach consists of government callingattention to potential harms and facilitating actions to address them. These approaches are best thought ofas endpoints for an array of regulatory forms, rather than as the sole choices in regulatory approach.Three sets of findings emerge from the research. One, not surprisingly, is that traditional regulation ismore effective than is the voluntary approach alone in enhancing attention to water quality issues. Asecond shows that deterrent fears and sense of duty to comply are important motivations for action inaddressing water quality. A third concerns factors that account for the variation in each motivation forwhich inspections, peer reputation, and attitudes toward government are shown to be importantconsiderations.These findings suggest a greater need for attention to regulatory arrangements and how thosearrangements shape affirmative considerations for the attainment of regulatory goals. Traditionalregulation establishes one set of arrangements that this research shows affect both deterrent fears andcivic duty. Requiring permits is a powerful tool for gaining attention to potential problems and for settingforth expectations as to what constitutes the civic duty to comply. Yet, simply requiring permits is notsufficient to motivate action. Technical and financial assistance is often necessary for facilitating anddirecting actions to alleviate potential harms. These findings therefore confirm what is well known aboutthe importance of building commitment and capacity to take action.The willingness of facilities that are subject to voluntary regulation, as with marinas in this research,to take action rests largely on their good will and their civic intent. Threats of stronger regulation orregulatory actions loom in the background making such regulation “quasi-voluntary.” Showcase actionsare important in underscoring this backdrop. But, the central issue is how to enhance the commitment toprotect water quality. The challenge is to create a stronger sense of civic duty in forming what might beconsidered a societal contract for protecting water quality. Actions to address water quality are strongerwhen facility operators view water quality harms as a shared problem that they have a civic duty toaddress. Social influences are a key to enhancing civic commitment and shared obligations to protectwater quality. These can be enhanced by strengthening associational ties (i.e., among trade groups), byfacilitating the emergence of strong industry leaders, and by providing credible evidence that action isappropriate.