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Environmental regulation came of age towards the end of the 20th century as the blunt methods of command-and-control were subjected to trenchant criticism from both economists and lawyers in the United States and Europe. As a result of this intellectual development, as well as continuing and increasing severity of environmental problems, there is a need for fresh thinking about regulatory methods that are rational from both economic and legal points of view. This text focuses on the viability of one particular regulatory innovation - the use of agreements or contracts for environmental regulation - as it has been practised in the United States and Europe. The various contributions explore the general idea that certain kinds of environmental problems may best be addressed through contracts among interested parties, including representatives of various levels of government, business, local community and employment representatives, and public interest groups. The parties get together to discuss a particular problem and then agree to an agreement or contract designed to address key issues and interests. At least in some situations, this approach may yield greater flexibility, stronger commitment, and more creative outcomes than traditional command-and-control regulation. Experiments in the use of environmental contracts have begun on both sides of the Atlantic, a fact which makes the comparative study offered here especially timely and valuable.
Preface; D.C. Esty. 1. Introduction: Environmental Contracts and Regulation, E.W. Orts, K. Deketelaere. Part I: Environmental Contracts and Regulatory Innovation in the United States. 2. Bargaining, Politics and Law in Environmental Regulation; J. Cannon. 3. Environmental Contracts in the United States; G.C. Hazard, Jr., E.W. Orts. 4. Is Consensus an Appropriate Basis for Regulatory Policy? C. Coglianese. 5. Understanding Project XL: A Comparative Legal and Policy Analysis; D.D. Hirsch. 6. A New Competence in Environmental Management: Lessons from Project XL in Minnesota; A.A. Marcus, et al. Part II: Environmental Agreements and Regulation in Europe. 7. Environmental Contracts: A Flemish Law and Economics Perspective; M. Faure. 8. Legal Aspects of Environmental Agreements in the Netherlands, in Particular the Agreement on Packaging and Packaging Waste; R. Seerden. 9. The Use of Environmental Agreements in the European Community's Environmental Policy; G. Van Calster, K. Deketelaere. 10. Competition Law and the Use of Environmental Agreements: The Experience in Europe, an Example for the United States? H.H.B. Vedder. Part III: The Law and Economics of Environmental Contracts and Regulation. 11. The Law and Economics of Environmental Contracts; J. Scott Johnston. 12. The New Political Economy of Regulation: Looking for Positive Sum Change in a Zero Sum World; D.B. Spence, L. Gapalakrishnan. 13. An Institutional Analysis of Environmental Voluntary Agreements in the United States; J.W. Maxwell, T.P. Lyon. 14. Voluntary Agreements for the Environment: Institutional Constraints and Potential for Innovation; M. Delmas, A. Terlaak. 15. Environmental Voluntary Agreements: Participation and Free Riding; K. Segerson, Na Li Dawson. 16. Third-Party Inspection as an Alternative to Command-and-Control Regulation; H.C. Kunreuther, et al. Part IV: A Comparative Case Study: Electricity and Contracts. 17. Environmental Voluntary Contracts Between Individuals and Industry: An Analysis of Consumer Preferences for Green Electricity; M.J. Kotchen, et al. 18. Your Contribution Counts! An Empirical Analysis of the Decision to Support Solar Energy; F. Oberholzer-Gee. Index.
