This paper explores the effects of effluent regulatory activity on firm behavior in the pulp and paper industry in Ontario. The model uses instrumental variables to attempt to distinguish between that correlation between emission limits and emissions coming from regulatory capture and that...

We investigate the impact of occupational safety and health (OSH) and environmental regulation on the rate of growth of total factor productivity (TFP) in the Quebec manufacturing sector during the 1985-88 period. Our results show that environmental regulation and OSH protective reassignments (a...

In this paper, we develop and estimate an explanatory model of Human Resources Outsourcing. Six HR activities are analyzed: Payroll, Benefits, Recruiting, Training, Labor Relations, and Human Resources Information Systems. The determinants of outsourcing are drawn from two fields: the field of...

Jaffe and Palmer (1997) present three distinct variants of the so-called Porter Hypothesis. The weak version of the hypothesis posits that environmental regulation will stimulate certain kinds of environmental innovations. The narrow version of the hypothesis asserts that flexible environmental...

The conventional wisdom about environmental protection is that it comes at an additional cost on firms imposed by the government, which may erode their global competitiveness. However, during the last decade, this paradigm has been challenged by a number of analysts. In particular, Porter...

Ecodesign is a method of designing products (goods and services) that takes into account their impact on the environment at all stages of their life cycle so as to minimize them. In order to promote ecodesign, it is necessary to see if it is profitable for the enterprises. Very little work has...

In this article, we highlight the factors which influence governments in their decision to implement environmental policies of varying degrees of severity. We substantiate our arguments with analytical evidence from public interest theory and the economic theory of regulation (interest group...

This paper examines the profile of workers who are willing to participate in a work sharing program by reducing their working hours. In contrast with national surveys which ask workers their intention about working hours reduction, we are dealing with Alcan's workers who have actually decided to...

We measure the effect of profit-sharing incentive schemes on productivity in the banking sector. We use data collected from the payroll records of different (and autonomous) branches of a Québec financial cooperative. Beginning in 1994, some of these branches introduced profit-sharing...

This paper examines how yhe Workers' Compensation (WC) and the Unemployment Insurance (UI) programs interact to influence the duration of claims due to workplace accidents. We use longitudinal WC administrative micro-data on more than 30,000 workers in the Quebec construction industry for the...