Corporate greening and changing regulatory regimes: the UK water industry

Abstract

This article looks at the relationship between economic regulation, environmental regulation, company strategy and the environment in the UK water and sewerage industry. The regulatory fi eld in this industry, following privatization in 1989, is highly complex and interdependent. The paper presents three case studies of company interpretation of and response to changes in this regulatory fi eld, focusing particularly on the third review by the economic regulator, in 1999, which involved a reduction of the prices companies were allowed to charge their customers. This had signifi cant but complex repercussions for environmental strategy and management in the companies, with different impacts on mandatory and nonmandatory activities. It also showed in relief the opportunities for building coalitions between companies and the environmental regulator, both in general terms and revolving around specifi c, local environmental issues and schemes. Companies' strategic direction was also found to have an impact on their response to the regulatory review.

The potential of environmental regulation to change managerial perception, environmental management, competitiveness and financial performance

“…However, and according to our results, we might suggest that whether or not the adoption of voluntary norms and proactive environmental management have a positive impact on competitiveness and financial performance, in circumstance of reduced income firms should not opt to reduce environmental investment (Schaefer, 2009). Some limitations and future research lines should be noted.…”

“…Another important point to mention is that while there has been much consideration given to the question of whether environmental regulation impacts on financial performance of a firm, less attention has been given to the question of whether changes in a firm's financial situation (for instance through environmental regulation) may also have an impact on its environmental management (Schaefer, 2009). This research tries to answer this question and to examine if there is a two-way relationship between proactive environmental management and financial performance.…”

Corporate governance and sustainability in water utilities. The effects of decorporatisation in the city of Naples, Italy

“…Several studies on the water sector have adopted qualitative methods, because the contexts in which utilities operate vary substantially, not only across countries but also from one city or to another within the same country, or even within the same region (Schaefer, 2009). The qualitative part of our research, aiming to unfold the social implications of the governance shift, was carried out through the case study methodology (Yin, 2017), focusing on ABC, the first water utility in Italy to undergo decorporatisation.…”

Influencing Clean Energy Laws: an Analysis of Business Stakeholder Engagement

“…These types of results underlined the propensity for dynamic responses to environmental legislation. In view of these varied responses, some researchers argued for tough environmental legislation and compliance (Brouhle and Harrington, ; Paulraj, ; Schaefer, ). This is consistent with contemporary studies that propose stronger laws and tighter controls in the light of elevated levels of environmental incidents coupled with soft compliance (Hutter, ; Hillary, ; Wilson et al ., , ).…”