Doctoral Dissertation Research: Environmental Innovation in the U.S. Petroleum Industry, 1921-1981

博士论文研究：美国石油工业的环境创新，1921-1981

• 批准号: 9422671
• 负责人: David Hounshell
• 金额: $ 0.5万
• 依托单位: Carnegie-Mellon University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1995
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1995-01-15 至 1995-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9422671&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Environmental; Innovation

Under the direction of Professor David Hounshell, Mr. Hugh Gorman is examining the U.S. petroleum industry as a case study of the interaction between environmental regulations and technological development. The working hypothesis is that when an economic externality is in dispute--in this case, the negative costs associated with discharges into the environment--significant innovation occurs only after the interested actors reach consensus on how to measure, monitor, and assign liability associated with the externality. Only then can a technological, legal, and social infrastructure emerge that encourages change in the direction of consensus. Mr. Gorman is examining each sector of the petroleum industry--production, transportation, refining, and consumption--to identify, at various intervals in the period 1921 to 1981, what engineers and managers perceived to be the state-of-the-art in preventing harmful discharges to the environment. What incentives did they have in further reducing these discharges? To what degree did direct economic losses serve as such an incentive? What incentives did insurance companies and professional organizations provide? What were the main barriers, technological or otherwise, preventing firms from reducing their discharges? What role did government regulations play, and was new technology or scientific knowledge needed to implement or enforce those regulations'? In summary, what patterns can be identified that advance our knowledge of how environmental regulations and technological development interact in a market society?

在David Hounshell教授的指导下，Hugh Gorman先生正在研究美国石油业，将其作为环境法规和技术发展之间相互作用的案例研究。工作假设是，当经济外部性存在争议时--在这种情况下，与向环境排放相关的负成本--只有在感兴趣的行为者就如何衡量、监测和分配与外部性相关的责任达成共识后，才会发生重大创新。只有到那时，技术、法律和社会基础设施才能出现，才能鼓励朝着共识的方向变化。戈尔曼正在研究石油工业的每个部门--生产、运输、炼油和消费--以确定在1921年至1981年期间的不同时间段，工程师和经理们认为在防止对环境有害排放方面是最先进的。他们有什么诱因来进一步减少这些排放？直接经济损失在多大程度上起到了这样的激励作用？保险公司和专业组织提供了哪些激励措施？阻止公司减少排放的主要障碍是什么，技术或其他方面？政府规章发挥了什么作用？是否需要新技术或科学知识来实施或执行这些规章？总而言之，可以确定哪些模式可以促进我们对环境法规和技术发展在市场社会中如何相互作用的了解？