Research Article
Firm strategy and the Canadian Voluntary Climate Challenge and Registry (VCR)†
Keith Brouhle,
Donna Ramirez Harrington,
Corresponding Author
Keith Brouhle
Department of Economics, Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA, USA
Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, 1210 Park Street, Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA 50112, USASearch for more papers by this authorDonna Ramirez Harrington
Department of Economics, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA
Search for more papers by this authorKeith Brouhle,
Donna Ramirez Harrington,
Corresponding Author
Keith Brouhle
Department of Economics, Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA, USA
Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, 1210 Park Street, Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA 50112, USASearch for more papers by this authorDonna Ramirez Harrington
Department of Economics, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA
Search for more papers by this author†
Primary authorship is shared.
Abstract
The Canadian VCR is a climate change mitigation program that relies on firms' desire to signal environmental responsibility to external stakeholders through voluntary information disclosure. We analyze indicators of strategic behavior through three measures of engagement with the VCR program (annual participation behavior, quality of action plans and repeat participation), and test for differences in these measures among firms subjected to different regulatory climates that arise over time, across provinces and across economic sectors. Our findings suggest an increased perception of a regulatory threat in later years, as evidenced by an increase in participation rates, higher quality of action plans and higher rates of repeat participation. We also find higher levels of engagement with the VCR program in provinces with large petroleum (Alberta) and manufacturing (Ontario) industries and that have established provincial level greenhouse gas reporting mechanisms, and in certain sectors such as petroleum, electric utilities and to some extent services. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
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