%0 Journal Article
%A Ball, Christopher
%A Burt, George
%A De Vries, Frans
%A MacEachern, Erik
%T How environmental protection agencies can promote eco-innovation: The prospect of voluntary reciprocal legitimacy
%J Technological forecasting and social change
%V 129
%@ 0040-1625
%C Amsterdam [u.a.]
%I Elsevier Science
%M FZJ-2018-02823
%P 242 - 253
%D 2018
%X This paper examines the UK and Irish Environmental Protection Agencies (EPAs) ability to move beyond regulatory compliance to support and promote sustainable environmental innovation, in short “eco-innovation”. To do so would require them to overcome the perception that they face, often being perceived as ‘policemen’ by the regulated business community. We propose a new empirically-derived theoretical construct called Voluntary Reciprocal Legitimacy (VRL), defined as the development of mutual trust between the regulator and business resulting in arrangements which generate eco-innovation benefits for the regulator, the regulated business communities and society at large. VRL adds a new category to Suchman's (1995) theory of moral legitimacy as well as highlights how EPAs can build trust between themselves and regulated business, allowing a shift of the ‘beyond compliance’ legislative boundary. Such an approach supports eco-innovation whilst simultaneously protecting the natural environment.
%F PUB:(DE-HGF)16
%9 Journal Article
%U <Go to ISI:>//WOS:000430763400022
%R 10.1016/j.techfore.2017.11.004
%U https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/845604