Contrary to the dominant view that public and private governance are substitutes, this paper proposes that they can complement one another, depending on the institutional setting.
Using the global diffusion of ISO 14001 as an indicator of the growing privatization of environmental governance, and environmental stringency as a reflection of the strength and effectiveness of public environmental governance. This paper examines how ISO 14001 and environmental stringency interact to reduce corporate emissions across institutional systems showing that complementarity is more likely in liberal market economies or other systems following a market-based logic, and when firms expand internationally.
Authors and affiliations:
● Irene Margaret (University of Liverpool)
● Jordi A. Surroca (University of Liverpool)
● Josep A. Tribó (Stevens Institute of Technology)
