Why do firms participate in the EPA's voluntary environmental programs? Possible reasons include: (1) to appeal to consumers who demand 'green' products; (2) to preempt government regulation; (3) to seek regulatory relief from the agency; and (4) to gain a competitive advantage over competitors. This article examines the determinants of participation in voluntary environmental programs, focusing on testing hypotheses 1 and 3. To test 2, a different approach is used than in previous literature. The focus is on a specified universe of firms (manufacturing firms in the Standard & Poor 500), and their participation in each of three EPA voluntary programs (33/50, Green Lights, and WasteWi$) referring to differently regulated pollutants is analyzed. Our empirical analyses reveal that (1) publicity is an important component of participation; (2) the worse the environmental track record of the firm, the more likely the firm is to participate, but only in programs directly related to highly regulated pollutants; and (3) firms that scrutinize their environmental performance more carefully are wary of newer programs with uncertain reach of the public and uncertain benefits. Firms appear to value the information/technology transfer aspect of joining a program. Copyright 2000 Western Economic Association International.

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We estimate a finite mixture model in which countries are sorted into groups based on the similarity of the conditional distributions of their growth rates. We strongly reject the hypothesis that all countries follow a common growth process in favor of a model in which there are two classes of countries, each with its own distinct growth process. Group membership does not conform to the usual categories used to control for parameter heterogeneity such as region or income. However, we find strong evidence that one country characteristic that helps to sort countries into different regimes is the quality of institutions, specifically, the degree of law and order. Once institutional features of the economy are controlled for, we find no evidence that geographic characteristics play a role in determining the country groupings.JEL Codes: O11, O17

Using data from approximately 30,000 individuals in over 30 countries, we find evidence that an individual's pro-environment attitudes and behavioral intentions to pay higher taxes to protect the natural environment are positively associated with her attitudes toward civic cooperation. The influence of civic cooperation on environmental attitudes varies with the level of development and the environmental quality of the country in which an individual lives. Our results indicate that civic cooperation is key to promoting pro-environment attitudes in low income countries.

Objectives: We examine whether democracy, political participation, and differing systems of democracy influence individual levels of subjective well-being. Direct all correspondence to Julio Videras, Hamilton College, 198 College Hill Road, Clinton, NY 13323, jvideras@hamilton.edu. The above-named author will share all data and coding information with those wishing to replicate the study.