Why did they comply while others did not? : environmental compliance of small firms and implications for regulation

This doctoral dissertation aims to offer new insights into the environmental compliance behavior of small firms (SFs). Specifically, the dissertation examines the impacts of two categories of factors. The first category concerns internal motivations that drive SFs' decisions to comply or not comply with a formal environmental regulation. The other comprises external factors that affect formation of SFs' perspectives on rule compliance. Rule compliance behavior results from complicated webs of both economic and social factors. Nevertheless, existing regulatory enforcement strategies have focused heavily on rational/economic factors without considering the significant effects of interactions between the two and consequently failed to produce the behavior they seek. Starting from an examination of the crucial characteristics of SFs that distinguish them from large firms, the dissertation sheds light on how social factors affect SFs' views on economic factors such as the price of penalty and compliance costs/benefits. In so doing, it contributes to knowledge of how formal regulatory enforcement can alter SFs' environmental compliance behavior. The regulatory programs in Massachusetts and southern California targeting the dry cleaning industry are excellent cases through which to evaluate the central issues of SFs' compliance.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2005

Author dc:creator

• Lee, Eungkyoon

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Martin Rein.

• Urban Studies and Planning.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/34169
• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Identifier URI

http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/34169

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/34169