Protecting the environment is often not the primary objective of businesses. As the world has become more environmentally aware, the necessity of environmental regulations becomes apparent. Voluntary Environmental Programs: A Policy Perspective examines different approaches to environmental protection in business. Environmental improvements on the part of industry often result from government regulations that command certain action on the part of industry and then control how well they perform. An alternative approach is Voluntary Environmental Agreements (VEA), where firms voluntarily commit to make certain environmental improvements individually, as part of an industry association, or under the guidance of a government entity. For example, many new initiatives targeted towards climate change originate from companies that voluntarily commit to reduce their carbon output or "footprint." Voluntary Environmental Programs (VEP) provides an overview of current research on VEPs, looking at issues such as what motivates firms to participate, how a VEP structure affects a company's efficiency and credibility with stakeholders, and who monitors compliance of participants. This current work examines how a firm's environmental performance over time compares with VEP commitments. This book also discusses the particular considerations for VEPs in developing countries, where information flows and regulatory oversight capacities differ from the U.S.

This book seeks to advance the understanding of how businesses may adapt to climate change trends. Specifically, it focuses on two general research questions: Firstly, how do businesses adapt to chronic slow-onset nature adversity conditions linked to climate change? Secondly, how do firms adapt to weather-related natural disasters exacerbated by climate change? In the first part of the book, the authors develop a conceptual framework in response to these questions. In the second part, they test this framework using multiple empirical studies involving large data analyses of: (a) the U.S. western ski industry adaptation to warmer temperatures, and (b) the effect of natural disasters on the foreign investment of multinational corporations around the world. This book will interest management and public policy students and scholars researching successful business climate change adaptation strategies, as well as business and non-profit organization leaders and policy makers involved in developing and promoting such effective strategies.

This book seeks to advance the understanding of how businesses may adapt to climate change trends. Specifically, it focuses on two general research questions: Firstly, how do businesses adapt to chronic slow-onset nature adversity conditions linked to climate change? Secondly, how do firms adapt to weather-related natural disasters exacerbated by climate change? In the first part of the book, the authors develop a conceptual framework in response to these questions. In the second part, they test this framework using multiple empirical studies involving large data analyses of: (a) the U.S. western ski industry adaptation to warmer temperatures, and (b) the effect of natural disasters on the foreign investment of multinational corporations around the world. This book will interest management and public policy students and scholars researching successful business climate change adaptation strategies, as well as business and non-profit organization leaders and policy makers involved in developing and promoting such effective strategies.

It is increasingly common for businesses to face public policies and government regulation that demand some form of environmental or social protection. These protective public policies have grown in number, complexity, and stringency over the last few decades, not only in industrialized countries but also in the developing world. In this 2010 book, Jorge Rivera presents a theoretical framework for understanding the relationship between protective public policies and business compliance. This framework explains different levels of business compliance in terms of three different factors: the link between the stages of protective public policies and different levels of business resistance, the effect of country context, and the effect of firm-level characteristics. The second part of the book supports and elaborates on this framework by presenting empirical studies that examine two voluntary environmental programs: the US ski industry's Sustainable Slopes Program and the Certification for Sustainable Tourism in Costa Rica.

It is increasingly common for businesses to face public policies and government regulation that demand some form of environmental or social protection. These protective public policies have grown in number, complexity, and stringency over the last few decades, not only in industrialized countries but also in the developing world. In this 2010 book, Jorge Rivera presents a theoretical framework for understanding the relationship between protective public policies and business compliance. This framework explains different levels of business compliance in terms of three different factors: the link between the stages of protective public policies and different levels of business resistance, the effect of country context, and the effect of firm-level characteristics. The second part of the book supports and elaborates on this framework by presenting empirical studies that examine two voluntary environmental programs: the US ski industry's Sustainable Slopes Program and the Certification for Sustainable Tourism in Costa Rica.