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The Informational Role of Voluntary Certification: Evidence from the Mexican Clean Industry Program

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  • Andrew D. Foster
  • Emilio Gutierrez

Abstract

In the presence of imperfect information, voluntary certification can provide an important complement to mandatory inspections as a basis for environmental regulation in low income countries. Using data from Mexico's Clean Industry Program, we show that patterns of compliance and certification by sector are consistent with a model in which selection into the voluntary program permits more efficient targeting of regulator effort. As expected given the informational role played by certification in the model, we also find evidence, for a sample of publicly traded firms, of positive stock price deviations linked to the announcement of certification.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew D. Foster & Emilio Gutierrez, 2013. "The Informational Role of Voluntary Certification: Evidence from the Mexican Clean Industry Program," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(3), pages 303-308, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:103:y:2013:i:3:p:303-08
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/aer.103.3.303
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Anton, W.R.Q.Wilma Rose Q. & Deltas, George & Khanna, Madhu, 2004. "Incentives for environmental self-regulation and implications for environmental performance," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 632-654, July.
    2. Matthew Potoski & Aseem Prakash, 2005. "Green Clubs and Voluntary Governance: ISO 14001 and Firms' Regulatory Compliance," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 49(2), pages 235-248, April.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Xiaoyu Gao & Anjie Dong, 2020. "Real estate prices, fiscal revenue and economic growth," Journal of Applied Finance & Banking, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 10(2), pages 1-7.
    3. Doremus, Jacqueline, 2019. "Unintended impacts from forest certification: Evidence from indigenous Aka households in Congo," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 1-1.
    4. Bruce G. Carruthers & Naomi R. Lamoreaux, 2016. "Regulatory Races: The Effects of Jurisdictional Competition on Regulatory Standards," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 54(1), pages 52-97, March.
    5. Neda Trifkovic, 2016. "Private standards and labour productivity in the food sector in Vietnam," WIDER Working Paper Series 163, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    6. Neda Trifković, 2016. "Private standards and labour productivity in the food sector in Vietnam," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2016-163, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    7. Wei, Hao & Tu, Yue & Zhou, Peng, 2023. "Technical barriers to trade and export performance: Comparing exiting and staying firms," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    8. Figueroa, Nicolás & Guadalupi, Carla, 2023. "Signaling through tests," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 25-34.
    9. Fan, Haichao & Peng, Yuchao & Wang, Huanhuan & Xu, Zhiwei, 2021. "Greening through finance?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    10. K. Sudhir & Joe Priester & Matt Shum & David Atkin & Andrew Foster & Ganesh Iyer & Ginger Jin & Daniel Keniston & Shinobu Kitayama & Mushfiq Mobarak & Yi Qian & Ishani Tewari & Wendy Wood, 2015. "Research Opportunities in Emerging Markets: an Inter-disciplinary Perspective from Marketing, Economics, and Psychology," Customer Needs and Solutions, Springer;Institute for Sustainable Innovation and Growth (iSIG), vol. 2(4), pages 264-276, December.
    11. Doremus, Jacqueline, 2020. "How does eco-label competition affect environmental benefits? The case of Central Africa's forests," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    12. Peng Liang & Xinhui Sun & Luzhuang Qi, 2024. "Does artificial intelligence technology enhance green transformation of enterprises: based on green innovation perspective," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(8), pages 21651-21687, August.
    13. Leila Pereira & Rafael Pucci, 2024. "A Tale of Gold and Blood: The Consequences of Market Deregulation on Local Violence," Working Papers, Department of Economics 2024_18, University of São Paulo (FEA-USP).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
    • Q52 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Pollution Control Adoption and Costs; Distributional Effects; Employment Effects
    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

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