| Voluntary environmental agreements have received a significant amount of scholarly attention, yet a state centered theory of public voluntary program adoption has yet to emerge. My dissertation evaluates the limits of state influence on the adoption of one type of public voluntary program, environmental management systems (EMS). State influence on EMS adoption throughout the world is evaluated based on national institutional arrangements, resource constraints under the control of the state, and government signals to business and the bureaucracy. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, my findings suggest that governments do have a significant influence on the adoption of EMS in their economies to the extent that they create the institutional setting of regulation, diffuse technology, and assist the private sector by coordinating voluntary efforts through signaling a government preference. EMS adoption is fundamentally constrained by the extent to which governments diffuse technology into their economies and allow international environmental organizations to exert pressure on the private sector. For a subset of nations, more stringent environmental regulation also increases the relative presence of EMS certifications in the economy. Where competing or rival EMS exist, such as the International Standards Organization 14001 environmental management system and the European Union's Eco-Management and Auditing Scheme, governments have a significant influence on how businesses choose which system to pursue by signaling a government preferred choice. U.S. governmental adoptions of EMS in the bureaucracy are discussed with regard to institutional and non-institutional influences on agency choice of EMS type. Non-governmental influence is also discussed in context of state influence on EMS adoptions. My findings support that a state centered theory of public voluntary program adoption, specifically EMS, must include the extent to which the state structures the institutional climate, provides resources, and signals preferred strategies to business. |
