Environmental Management Systems (EMSs) offer an approach to regulatory policy that lies somewhere between free-market and traditional command-and-control methods. Worldwide, hundreds of thousands of private firms have adopted or are considering adopting these internally managed systems for improving environmental performance. In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency has established a special recognition for firms that adopt EMSs. Already, numerous state agencies have proposed or adopted 'green-tier systems' that allow firms with EMSs to be exempted from otherwise applicable requirements. Yet while private- and public-sector interest in EMSs is booming, limited empirical evidence is available about the efficacy of EMSs. To close the gap between advocacy and analysis, Regulating from the Inside brings together cutting-edge work of leading scholars, providing the most comprehensive analysis to date of environmental management systems. Intended to frame the future policy and the research agenda about EMSs, the discussions are organized around two critical questions: How have EMSs worked in firms that have already adopted them? What potential and limitations do they have as policy tools in the future? Addressing the arguments of both advocates and skeptics, the chapters examine why firms adopt EMSs; how firms implement EMSs; how EMSs answer concerns about fairness, corporate social responsibility, and sustainability; and what kind of impact EMSs may have on the global economy.

ForewordDonald F. Kettl1. Environmental Management Systems and the New Policy AgendaCary Coglianese and Jennifer NashPart 1: Motivations and Impacts2. Environmental Management Systems: History, Theory, and Implementation ResearchRichard N.L. Andrews, Nicole Darnall, Deborah Rigling Gallagher, Suellen Terrill Keiner, Eric Feldman, Matthew L. Mitchell, Deborah Amaral, and Jessica Jacoby3. Factors that Shape EMS Outcomes in FirmsJennifer Nash and John R. Ehrenfeld4. Whay Do Firms Adopt Advanced Environmental Practices (And Do They Make a Difference?)Richard Florida and Derek Davison5. Environmental Management Systems and the Global EconomyTheodore PanayotouPart 2: Implications for Public Policy6. Expanding the Concept of Environmental Management Systems to Meet Multiple Social GoalsWilliam R. Moomaw7. Information, Environmental Performance, and Environmental Management SystemsShelley H. Metzenbaum8. Policies to Promote Systematic Environmental ManagementCary Coglianese9. EMSs and Tiered Regulation: Getting the Deal RightJerry SpeirConclusion10. Toward a Management-Based Environmental PolicyCary Coglianese and Jennifer NashIndex