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Abstract: It is generally recognized that firms face both internal and external pressures to improve their environmental performance. However, few empirical studies have attempted to delineate the importance of those various sources of pressure as managers themselves perceive them. In this study, we show that managers in the Canadian pulp and paper industry perceive the government and the public, but not financial and consumer markets, as the most important sources of pressure. We also show that involvement of the firm''s higher level management and environmental education of employees are important determinants of environmental performance. While the paper provides a better understanding of the key determinants of environmental performance, it reasserts the crucial role of strong government regulatory intervention. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This study employs a parametric deterministic input distance function for computing the relative shadow prices of social capital with respect to physical capital and labor for household-level paper-recycling units in Vietnam. The results indicate that social capital has positive effects on the production efficiency of paper-recycling units. More specifically, the contribution of a 1% increase in social capital to production efficiency improvements is much greater than that of one million Vietnamese dong of physical capital, but less than that of 100 worker-hours of labor. Furthermore, associational activity and trust are the most valuable out of the four components of social capital and an increase of 1% in the measures of associational activity and trust is equal to an increase of US$364.936 and US$337.103 in the value of physical capital, respectively. The results also indicate that the relative shadow prices of the reciprocity and associational activity measures are highest for the lowest income group; whereas those of trust and information sharing are highest among the higher income groups. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We examine the price ambivalence of low quality waste paper (grades 1.02 and 1.04) on the German market. Since 1990 the price of these grades is at times positive and at times negative. The underlying reason is the combination of three institutional and technical characteristics of the market: (i) As a result of waste management legislation the supply of waste paper is mostly independent of its price and its demand. Supply is bounded from below by collection and utilization quotas fixed by the Regulation on Packaging Waste enacted in 1991. (ii) The only alternative to costly disposal of waste paper by dumping or incineration is its use as a secondary resource in the production of new paper, as only the paper industry is capable of using waste paper in a productive manner in significant amount. (iii) Yet, its use as a substitute for primary inputs is technically limited. In this article, we describe the technical and institutional conditions leading to price ambivalence and discuss the consequences for supply, demand and trade of waste paper. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper analyzes the determinants of demand for Nordic Swan eco-labeled paper products and whether the factors determining the discrete decision to buy a Swan-labeled product are different from those that determine the quantity purchased. Using observed consumer purchase data from Denmark, we find that prices and socio-demographic characteristics have a strong impact on the decision to purchase a Swan-labeled good. The quantity consumed of Swan-labeled goods, on the other hand, is strongly affected by the availability of Swan goods, discounts, and household size. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper estimates the impact of the introduction of a tax on unsorted waste increasing the 35-l bag price from 0.24 to 1.95 CHF in 2013 in the canton of Vaud. Using panel data for 22 districts over the period 2010–2017, we identify the effects over time of the waste tax on unsorted waste and recycling. The neighbouring cantons of Geneva and Valais form our control group. The waste tax decreases the amount of yearly unsorted household-waste by about 47 kg, corresponding to a reduction of about one fourth per inhabitant. The effect is strongest the year after the introduction of the tax and is persistent over time. We further find a robust increase in organic waste recycling. For recycling of paper and glass, the effect is not clear-cut. Interestingly, in terms of weight, the reduction in unsorted waste is not fully compensated by increased recycling. Given that there are no signs for illegal waste disposal, this means that consumers probably reduced their total packaging bought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this research was to determine whether willingness to bear the negative externality from water quality impairment differs between those who do and those who do not receive economic benefit from the impairment source. Differences were tested using a hedonic analysis of ambient water quality in two discrete housing markets in the Pigeon River Watershed, which have been polluted by the operation of a paper mill. The results suggest that North Carolina residents residing in subwatersheds with impaired portions of the Pigeon River, who experience economic benefit from the paper mill in addition to its harmful effects on water quality, do perceive the pollution as a negative externality. In contrast, the effects of both the degraded river and its contributing streams on property values are perceived as negative externalities by watershed residents in Tennessee who experience only harmful effects from the pollution. Differences in willingness to bear the water-impairment externality were not indicated by variables representing view of and proximity to impaired water bodies. The results suggest that the perception of water quality to which property owners implicitly apply value should be considered when establishing water-quality regulations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Biodiversity markets offer considerable promise but are accompanied by controversies. Here, we map the utilization of native species (NS) from Brazil's biodiversity across eleven industrial sectors: foodstuffs, beverages, textiles, clothing, leather, wood, pulp and paper, biofuels, pharmochemicals, rubber and furniture. We show that there exists a diverse range of NS use in industrial products (48%) and activities (73%). These economic activities represent potential annual exports of approximately USD $50 billion. However, we found that only 1% of the potential business, USD $500 million of annual exports, is consolidated and can be traced to such products. We show that biodiversity markets and larger annual revenues locate in municipalities away from places in which biodiversity products originate. Therefore, the biodiversity business in Brazil remains largely untapped. This prompts a critical examination of the role of biodiversity within the Brazilian industry and its alignment with the Brazilian Biodiversity Law and the Nagoya Protocol. Our study is a pioneering effort that provides strategic recommendations. We suggest that the responsibility for sustainable NS utilization predominantly falls on sectors dominated by major corporations, most notably pharmochemicals and biofuels. These industry sectors possess the potential to lead the transition towards responsible and sustainable biodiversity practices within Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The CPR school has successfully rebutted Hardin''s pessimistic Tragedy of the Commons model. However, in recent years, critics have focussed on the inward orientation and lack of contextual analysis characterising the writings of the CPR school.Oakerson [A Model for the analysis of common property problems. Working Paper R86-13. Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis, Indiana University, 1986] and Ostrom [Governing the Commons. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1990] have detailed the list of variables that have to be studied to understand the mechanics of collective action. However, these factors are internal to the community. Recent critics'' point out that the actions of individual agents are also influenced by the alternatives embedded outside the system. These variables are collectively labelled contextual factors.In our paper, we have analysed the case of a fishermen''s cooperative in the Calcutta Metropolitan District to show how the historic and economic context shapes targets of resource users and affects the feasibility of alternative courses to achieve the target by determining opportunity and transaction costs of actions. This indicates the importance of contextual factors in explaining the formation and evolution of the resource regime. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper provides a perspective on the potential of Chinese ecological agriculture to address sustainable human–environmental interactions. As Chinese agriculture is increasingly challenged by the constraints of population, resources and environment emerging from its modern development, it is imperative to explore a sustainable agricultural paradigm that could accommodate economic and socio-cultural needs within an already stressed natural resource base. The rise of ecological agriculture is suggested as a workable alternative that has the potential to mitigate negative impacts of modern conventional agriculture and at the same time, to overcome limitations of traditional agriculture in meeting the needs of China''s growing population. Ecological agriculture represents a site-specific manifestation of the application of ecological economics, among others, to agricultural practices. Some challenges being experienced in translating this rhetoric into practice are identified and discussed. Highlighted is the view that sustainable agricultural development is meaningful only when it is tailored to specific ecological, economic, political and socio-cultural settings. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article uses a longitudinal national U.S. dataset with 232,309 pairs of same-household observations to estimate one-year or two-year changes in recycling behavior. Most households recycled at least one material, as 83% recycle paper, cans, glass, or plastic in the past year, with an average recycling rate of 2.8 materials. Recycling habits are stable, as 68% of households do not change the number of materials recycled from the previous year. Changes in county recycling are reflected in immediate changes in household behavior but at 25% of the change in the county recycling rate. Recycling rates are greater after being newly exposed to deposit laws (+7%), moving to a state with effective recycling laws (+6%), or newly available single-stream recycling (+4%). If market prices for the returned cans doubled, household recycling of cans would increase by 12%, although price responsiveness of recycling other materials is less. Shocks to the household may diminish recycling in the short term, including marriage (−2%), arrival of a newborn (−1%), and either large increase in income (−1%) or large decrease in income (−3%). The estimates for the total number of materials and which particular materials a household recycles follow similar patterns. • A third of US households alter recycling, many due to personal and policy changes. • Recycling laws, deposits, and single-stream are associated with increased recycling. • Increases in prices for cans and glass are associated with increases in recycling. • Household shocks such as a 20% change in income or a newborn child disrupt recycling. • More than 80% of US households recycled at least one material in the past year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sappi Saiccor mill in Umkomaas, KwaZulu Natal (KZN) Province, is a global pulp producer. It is also a major emitter of noxious substances in the heavily polluted and historically marginalised South Durban area. Taking a qualitative, narrative approach, this paper examines Saiccor's legacy of contamination, community opposition to the mill, and responses of state actors responsible for governing industrial risk. Through a conceptual framework combining theories around participatory environmental governance, legitimacy and state capture, the article explores the extent to which measures deployed by/on behalf of the Sappi Saiccor mill to engage with local residents and activists can be considered legitimate. The paper argues that prevalent corporate instrumentalism and a lack of political will continue to undermine the legitimacy of community engagement processes, which remain characterised by mistrust. It concludes the South African state cannot be relied upon to support genuinely inclusive, deliberative, empowering and reflexive governance practices. It is therefore left to organised civil society to force discourse beyond hegemonic, ecologically-modernised, technocentric ideals, and to bring issues of power, agency, and social justice to the fore of public and policy debate. The way might then be paved for strong political leadership committed to transparent, equitable environmental governance processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]