Assessment on the Roles of Industry Associations in Voluntary Environmental Governance: A Critical Literature Review

Voluntary environmental governance has been an important innovative policy instrument in environmental protection since 1990s. Industry associations can potentially play important roles in it because many voluntary environmental initiatives are based on industries rather than individual firms. However, the existing literature on voluntary environmental governance focuses primarily on motivations of firms participating in voluntary environmental programs and evaluation of environmental performance of these programs. The literature is relatively sparse that deals directly with the roles of industry associations in voluntary environmental governance. Moreover, the literature is predominantly on voluntary environmental governance in the context of developed countries. This paper aims to critically review the relevant literature, identify the gaps in the literature, and propose a research agenda in Chinese context. The literature review centers on three aspects: (1) the organizational capacity of industry associations and its determinants, which underlie the effectiveness of roles of industry associations in voluntary environmental governance; (2) the relationship between types of voluntary environmental governance and organizational capacity of industry associations; (3) the assessment of performance of business associations in voluntary environmental governance. The paper concludes by outlining a research agenda in Chinese context and suggesting how it may fill the theoretical gaps in the literature.