Criminology Research Council grant ; (8/92)
This study examines the role of self-regulation as a strategy for environment protection. In particular it explores the chemical industry's Responsible Care Program. Responsible Care is a far-reaching and sophisticated self-regulatory scheme intended to reduce chemical accidents and pollution, to build industry credibility through improved performance and increased communication, and to involve the community in decision making.
A classic solution to the collective action problem is mutual coercion, mutually agreed on. That is, voluntary compliance of the majority of firms may ultimately depend on the coercive imposition of a code of conduct on the minority of freeriders. There are three ways in which this might be achieved under Responsible Care. These are: self policing by the industry association; informal social control exercised by the industry or its members; and direct state intervention (co-regulation).
The arguments in favour of co-regulation are compelling. Government intervention is necessary to ensure that the industry performs its self regulatory tasks honestly and effectively, to provide extra leverage when the industry association's efforts and powers are insufficient to change the behaviour of recalcitrants, to regulate the behaviour of those who refuse to participate in the self regulatory scheme and to regulate directly where the gap between industry self interest and the public interest is too large for self regulation along to be a credible strategy. Co-regulation avoids the inflexible, costly and prescriptive mechanisms often associated with traditional regulation and facilitates cost effective and innovative industry approaches to environment protection.