The Shadow of the Rational Polluter
Rethinking the Role of Rational Actor Models in Environmental Law
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5801430 |
|---|---|
| Authors | David B Spence (The University of Texas at Austin, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2001 |
| Volume | 89 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 917-917 |
| Publication date | 2001-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | California Law Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0008-1221 • E-ISSN: 1942-6542 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/3481289 |
| OpenAlex | W1603067491 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 12 |
| References cited | 1 |
The modern American environmental regulatory system is founded on the assumption that business firms are rational polluters: that the rational pursuit of their self interest guides both their compliance decisions and their participation in the political process.This traditional view of firms implies that environmental regulators must deter pollution through the imposition offines and penalties, and must deter capture and subversion of the regulatory process through the use of prescriptive and proscriptive rules.Critics of this traditional view claim that the regulatory system is unnecessarily complex, making compliance difficult, and unnecessarily punitive, since most firms try to comply and most noncompliance is unintentional.This article examines this debate between proponents of the traditional view and proponents of the complexity critique, a debate that lies at the root of ongoing controversies over civil enforcement, citizen suit standing, mens rea standards in environmental criminal prosecutions, environmental auditing policy, and EPA's experiments with collaborative regulation.While there is evidence to support both, it seems clear from a
Regulation and Compliance Studies · Wildlife Conservation and Criminology Analyses
Of Fish and Fishermen
Why we need a commitment approach to environmental policy
Can Businesses Effectively Regulate Employee Conduct? The Antecedents of Rule Following in Work Settings
A review of the system of “daily continuous penalty” in China's environmental protection practice—From the perspective of law and economics
Do Carrots Work? Examining the Effectiveness of EPA 's Compliance Assistance Program
The effect of compliance assistance on pollution discharges and violations of environmental regulations
Corporate behaviour and ecological disaster
How and Why Do Economic Operators Comply With EU Law? Analysis of Firm‐Level Responses to the EU Timber Regulation in Germany
Credible signaling to promote local compliance
What about the environment? Assessing the perceived seriousness of environmental crime
General Deterrence and Corporate Environmental Behavior
The Shadows of the Law
| Unique citing works | 12 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,52 |
| Citation span | 2003 - 2025 (23) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 10 |