The Organizational Determinants of Industrial Toxic Pollution

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This is a study of how the age and size of industrial organizations influence toxic pollution. In asking what organizational factors explain why some manufacturing plants emit disproportionate amounts of toxins, this project draws upon the literature in the sociology of organizations to identify aspects of businesses that are theoretically relevant to possible polluting behavior. One strand of organizational research suggests that older and larger corporations are the least flexible and therefore the least inclined to adopt environmentally improved work practices. Size and age of plant may create "structural inertia" that limit plant responsiveness to changes in industrial technology and utilization of new information by management. Another strand of organizational research challenges these predictions, suggesting that older and larger businesses are actually the most fluid and therefore the most capable of incorporating environmentally sound systems. This research suggests that many large and well established businesses have recently enhanced their fluidity by restructuring themselves to resemble networks. Through spinning off subsidiaries, selling off unprofitable divisions, subcontracting less essential activities, and participating in joint ventures, these firms have managed to create flexible mass production systems. By extension in today's "mean and lean" economy, the production systems of the large and more established companies may be most able to conform with environmental regulations. This research will test these competing theoretical claims about the effects of organizational size and age on toxic emissions with data from the Toxic Release Inventory collected by the Environmental Protection Agency, focusing on information concerning the toxic releases of approximately 4500 chemical plants. This research will provide new policy relevant information on organizational structure and polluting behavior. This is an important new departure in the sociological study of environmenta l issues, for it addresses the core organizational structure of a firm as the possible source of polluting behavior. Policy makers realize that "end-of-pipe" pollution control is an inadequate strategy for long term sustainable economic growth. By understanding the organizational dimensions of polluting behavior, scientific understanding of pollution will be moved up stream from "end-of-pipe" to basic core facts of organizational life.