How Do External Conditions Affect the Design of Local Governments’ Sustainability Strategies?

Ji H, Darnall N. 2020. How do external conditions affect the design of local governments’ sustainability strategies? Regulation and Governance, Forthcoming

24 Pages Posted: 25 Jun 2020

See all articles by Hyunjung Ji

Hyunjung Ji

University of Alabama- Department of Political Science

Nicole Darnall

School of Sustainability, Arizona State University; Sustainable Purchasing Research Initiative, Arizona State University

Date Written: May 29, 2020

Abstract

Local governments nationwide have been adopting a variety of sustainability practices in the absence of strong federal guidance. The collection of these practices, which differ in design, forms the local government’s sustainability strategy. Some local governments may develop a more focused sustainability strategy to achieve more predictable environmental benefits around a narrower array of environmental issues. By contrast, other local governments are developing a more comprehensive sustainability strategy that is more broadly focused to address complex, interconnected environmental issues. However, the external conditions that give rise to these different strategies is not well understood. Drawing on data for more than 950 U.S. municipal governments, this study provides important evidence that local governments’ comprehensive sustainability strategies are influenced more by their community constituents and external environmental settings, with greater pressures in particular from constituents in new economy industries and environmental NGOs. These strategies are also more strongly related to higher disaster risk in the external environmental setting than more focused sustainability strategies. These findings broaden our understanding about why local governments’ sustainability strategies differ in their design, which may provide a starting point for understanding how different sustainability strategies relate to actual environmental performance outcomes.

Keywords: Sustainability strategy; focused sustainability strategy; comprehensive sustainability strategy; local governments; community constituents; environmental setting; disaster risk

JEL Classification: H70, H79, Q50, Q54, Q56, Q58, R50

Suggested Citation

Ji, Hyunjung and Darnall, Nicole, How Do External Conditions Affect the Design of Local Governments’ Sustainability Strategies? (May 29, 2020). Ji H, Darnall N. 2020. How do external conditions affect the design of local governments’ sustainability strategies? Regulation and Governance, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3617204

Hyunjung Ji

University of Alabama- Department of Political Science ( email )

310 ten Hoor Hall
Tuscaloosa, AL Tuscaloosa 35487
United States

Nicole Darnall (Contact Author)

School of Sustainability, Arizona State University ( email )

PO Box 875502
Tempe, AZ 85287-5502
United States

HOME PAGE: http://isearch.asu.edu/profile/1811617

Sustainable Purchasing Research Initiative, Arizona State University ( email )

PO Box 875502
Tempe, AZ 85287-5502
United States

HOME PAGE: http://https://sustainability-innovation.asu.edu/spri/

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