Voluntary Approaches for Environmental Policy
Subtitle: An Assessment
By: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Publisher: OECD Publishing
Published: 2000
Place of publication: Paris
Language: eng
Format: [electronic resource]:
Number of pages: 144
ISBN-13: 9789264180260
Subjects: Ecology; Euthenics; Nature and nurture; Adaptation (Biology)
Description: Voluntary approaches are schemes whereby firms make commitments to improve their environmental performance.They cover arrangements such as public voluntary programmes, negotiated agreements or unilateral commitments. Until recently, voluntary approaches have not been subject to systematic analysis, inasmuch as, unlike taxes and tradable permits, they have not been prescribed by economic theory. Voluntary approaches were "invented" by those who devise and implement them: policy-makers, business associations, individual firms, non-governmental associations, etc. The use of voluntary approaches in environmental policy (e.g.negotiated agreements between Government and industry) is spreading and attracting growing interest in OECD countries. This book provides a systematic analysis of the different types of voluntary approaches, their economic characteristics, their role and effectiveness.
Table of contents: title: 1. Summary, Conclusions, and Policy Recommendations; title: 2. Introduction; title: Part I: Voluntary Approaches Viewed in Isolation; title: 3. New Case Studies; title: 4. Environmental Effectiveness of Voluntary Approaches; title: 5. Economic Efficiency of Voluntary Approaches; title: 6. Administration and Transaction Costs; title: 7. Implementation Issues; title: 8. Comparison of Voluntary Approaches and Tradable Permit Systems; title: Part II. Voluntary Approaches as Part of Policy Packages; title: 9. Introduction; title: 10. Voluntary Approaches Used in Combination with Environmental Permit Systems; title: 11. Voluntary Approaches Used in Combination with Environmentally Motivated Subsidies; title: 12. Voluntary Approaches Used in Combination with Taxes or Charges; title: 13. Voluntary Approaches Used in Combination with Emission Trading Systems; title: References