It is increasingly common for businesses to face public policies and government regulation that demand some form of environmental or social protection. These protective public policies have grown in number, complexity, and stringency over the last few decades, not only in industrialized countries but also in the developing world. In this 2010 book, Jorge Rivera presents a theoretical framework for understanding the relationship between protective public policies and business compliance. This framework explains different levels of business compliance in terms of three different factors: the link between the stages of protective public policies and different levels of business resistance, the effect of country context, and the effect of firm-level characteristics. The second part of the book supports and elaborates on this framework by presenting empirical studies that examine two voluntary environmental programs: the US ski industry's Sustainable Slopes Program and the Certification for Sustainable Tourism in Costa Rica.

Using the concept of public policy as an integrating theme, this classic book explores the social and political environment of business from a managerial focus. It considers specific issues and outlines many management-oriented techniques for dealing with such issues -- showing how issues are raised in our society and how business and government interact in the resolution of those issues. Content is organized into five major sections. Part I covers theoretical and conceptual material and expands coverage of the institutional and public policy aspects of government. Part II deals specifically with the public policy process. Part III focuses on specific public policy issues of concern to management. Part IV explores the ethical and international dimensions of public policy. Part V discusses management responses to public policy issues in the context of a strategic management framework. There is a chapter on public issues management that includes discussions about stakeholder management and the legal environment of business and a chapter on corporate political strategies. Each chapter begins with a brief company oriented incident and includes short cases at the end of most chapters. This book will be useful to managers who deal with public policy issues, such as Public Affairs and Public Relations professionals, Directors of Executive Education, Management Training Executives or Public Policy Analysts.

A supplemental text for courses in environmental economics, environmental science, and environmental politics. Writing style is nontechnical and accessible. This second edition is revised to account for changes in the institutional, legal, and regulatory framework of environmental policy, with updated chapters on EPA and federal regulation, air and water pollution policy, and hazardous and toxic substances. There are new chapters on market-based environmental policies, global climate change, and solid waste. Portney is president and senior fellow of Resources for the Future. Stavins is professor of business and government and faculty chair of the Environment and Natural Resources Program at Harvard University. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Focusing on five Los Angeles environmental policy debates between 1920 and 1950, Sarah Elkind investigates how practices in American municipal government gave business groups political legitimacy at the local level as well as unanticipated influence over