The decision to self-regulate: A comparative study of marinas in New England and the Netherlands.

详细信息   

• 作者：Oostveen-Buterbaugh ; Carry J.
• 学历：Ph.D.
• 年：2014
• 毕业院校：University of Southern Maine
• Department：Muskie School of Public Service
• ISBN：9781303773952
• CBH：3613757
• Country：USA
• 语种：English
• FileSize：3243905
• Pages：182

文摘

This research investigates the participation of marinas in the New England region of the United States, and in the Netherlands in environmental self-regulation, while examining specific sources of influence on the decision to self-regulate. Environmental agencies in both countries have implemented industry specific self-regulatory programs, the Clean Marina Program, and the Blue Flag Program, to encourage marinas to implement best management practices, and reduce the environmental impacts of nonpoint source pollution. While traditional economic theory asserts that taking on environmental responsibilities beyond those required by law will jeopardize a business economic performance, many small businesses have chosen to self-regulate. This study employs a comparative framework involving two different national systems of environmental regulation, which permits investigation of the decision to self-regulate. More specifically, it aims to determine the influence of personal values, economic advantage and regulatory pressure, as well as the influence of broader factors such as institutional and legal structures on the decision to self-regulate by applying multiple research methods including surveys, interviews, and in-depth case studies. Survey results reveal that personal values have a strong influence on the decisions to self-regulate. Personal interviews and case-studies confirmed the positive influence of personal values. The analysis further suggests that the opportunity for economic advantage is not an influence on the decision to self-regulate. However, the qualitative interview and case-study data provide conflicting evidence. Qualitative data and the relative frequencies indicate that regulatory pressure may be of influence, but the statistical analysis does not confirm that association. Findings suggest that the location of a marina influences the roles personal values and the opportunity of economic advantage play in the decision to self-regulate. New England marinas seem relative more likely than Dutch marinas to select personal values as a motive to self-regulate. Neither Dutch nor New England marinas consider economic advantage a motive to self-regulate, and the role of regulatory pressure appears, surprisingly, to be similar among marinas in both countries. In both locations, approximately 70 percent of marinas identify regulatory pressure as an influence on the decision to self-regulate. Statistical tests for size effects show that the size of a marina does not appear important for the decision to self-regulate, but the number of years the marina has been in business does. Mature marinas, those which have been in business for more than 15 years, are more likely to self-regulate than marinas that have not been in business that long. In sum, findings suggest that for both locations the decision to self-regulate is predominantly influenced by personal values. The influence of economic advantage, regulatory pressure, and self-regulation are not absolute, as different data sources revealed different findings. Understanding the variation in these findings for the locations examined may assist policymakers, public agencies and other entities responsible for the design and implementation of environmental regulatory initiatives with further development of local self-regulatory initiatives. In addition, findings highlight the importance of marine trade associations and the influence of environmental regulatory regimes on the decision to selfregulate.