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We study how government green procurement policies influence private-sector demand for similar products. Specifically, we measure the impact of municipal policies requiring governments to construct green buildings on private-sector adoption of the US Green Building Council׳s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standard. Using matching methods, panel data, and instrumental variables, we find that government procurement rules produce spillover effects that stimulate both private-sector adoption of the LEED standard and investments in green building expertise by local suppliers. These findings suggest that government procurement policies can accelerate the diffusion of new environmental standards that require coordinated complementary investments by various types of private adopter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we ask how the written composition of public policies structure an environmental governance system. We answer this question using semi-automated text analyses of 22 state-level policies governing oil and gas development in California between 2007 and 2017. The findings portray an environmental governance system that is both partitioned and connected into different focal areas (called "targeted action situations") through certain actors, issues, and rules. We conclude with substantive insights about California's oil and gas governance system, as well as theoretical and methodological contributions for analyzing the composition of public policy to advance knowledge about hybrid governance. • A coercive or regulatory form of governing system can appear responsive to signals in its environment. • Policy-making venues produce policies that connect actors in the broader governance system via targeted action situations. • Interdependent action situations are connected in multiple ways. • The actors, issues, and rules in a governance system tend to partition or connect the system. • The institutional grammar can be adapted to study public policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]