The effectiveness of national voluntary programs asking companies to pledge to lower their pollution and greenhouse gas emissions depends on pressure from the public, according to a new study led by a Penn State researcher.

The research, published in the Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, found that companies contributing the greatest pollution and emissions were more committed to reducing pollution because they faced greater public scrutiny and risked being labeled as “greenwashers” — entities that make false claims about their environmental impact.

In contrast, the researchers found that companies already contributing smaller amounts of pollution and emissions experienced significantly less public scrutiny, allowing their reputation to benefit from participating in the program even if they weren’t actively lowering their pollution rates.

Ruohao Zhang, assistant professor of agricultural economics at Penn State and first author on the paper, said the findings may help inform more effective programs in the future.

“It suggests that public pressure — such as through public scrutiny of firms’ environmental performance by the media, nongovernmental organizations and other stakeholders — can be effectively leveraged to complement traditional regulation and may be sufficient to keep firms from free riding in voluntary pollution abatement programs,” he said.

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