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Decentralized Environmental Regulations and Plant-Level Productivity

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  • Vivek Ghosal
  • Andreas Stephan
  • Jan F. Weiss
Abstract
Using a unique plant-level dataset we examine total factor productivity (TFP) growth and its components, related to efficiency change and technical change. The data we use is from Sweden and for their pulp and paper industry, which is heavily regulated due to its historically large contribution to air and water pollution. Our paper contributes to the broader empirical literature on the Porter Hypothesis, which posits a positive relationship between environmental regulation and “green” TFP growth of firms. Our exercise is innovative as Sweden has a unique regulatory structure where the manufacturing plants have to comply with plant-specific regulatory standards stipulated at the national level, as well as decentralized local supervision and enforcement. Our key findings are: (1) prudential regulation limits expansion of plants with high initial pollution; (2) regulation, however, is not conducive to plants’ “green” technical change, which provides evidence against the recast version of the Porter Hypothesis; (3) decentralized command-and-control regulation is prone to regulatory bias, entailing politically motivated discriminatory treatment of plants with otherwise equal characteristics.

Suggested Citation

  • Vivek Ghosal & Andreas Stephan & Jan F. Weiss, 2018. "Decentralized Environmental Regulations and Plant-Level Productivity," CESifo Working Paper Series 7255, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7255
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    3. Xiaosheng Li & Yunxia Shu & Xin Jin, 2022. "Environmental regulation, carbon emissions and green total factor productivity: a case study of China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 2577-2597, February.
    4. Long Qian & Yunjie Zhou & Ying Sun, 2023. "Regional Differences, Distribution Dynamics, and Convergence of the Green Total Factor Productivity of China’s Cities under the Dual Carbon Targets," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-26, August.
    5. Cui, Xin & Wang, Panpan & Sensoy, Ahmet & Nguyen, Duc Khuong & Pan, Yuying, 2022. "Green Credit Policy and Corporate Productivity: Evidence from a Quasi-natural Experiment in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    6. Weijiang Liu & Mingze Du & Yuxin Bai, 2021. "Mechanisms of Environmental Regulation’s Impact on Green Technological Progress—Evidence from China’s Manufacturing Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-23, February.
    7. Pål Børing, 2019. "The relationship between firm productivity, firm size and CSR objectives for innovations," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 9(3), pages 269-297, September.
    8. Yanhong Liu & Jia Lei & Yihua Zhang, 2021. "A Study on the Sustainable Relationship among the Green Finance, Environment Regulation and Green-Total-Factor Productivity in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-27, October.
    9. Gangqiang Yang & Ziyu Ding & Haisen Wang & Lingli Zou, 2023. "Can environmental regulation improve firm total factor productivity? The mediating effects of credit resource allocation," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(7), pages 6799-6827, July.
    10. Zhang, Yijun & Li, Xiaoping & Song, Yi & Jiang, Feitao, 2021. "Can green industrial policy improve total factor productivity? Firm-level evidence from China," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 51-62.
    11. Zhou, Di & Qiu, Yuan & Wang, Mingzhe, 2021. "Does environmental regulation promote enterprise profitability? Evidence from the implementation of China's newly revised Environmental Protection Law," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    pollution; environmental regulations; plant-specific regulation; decentralized regulation; enforcement; political-economy; Porter Hypothesis; TFP; productivity; efficiency; technical change; pulp and paper industry;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation
    • L60 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - General
    • Q52 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Pollution Control Adoption and Costs; Distributional Effects; Employment Effects
    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

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