Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • August 2011
  • Article
  • Journal of Law & Economics

Coming Clean and Cleaning Up: Does Voluntary Self-Reporting Indicate Effective Self-Policing

By: Michael W. Toffel and Jodi L. Short
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:41
ShareBar

Abstract

Regulatory agencies are increasingly establishing voluntary self-reporting programs both as an investigative tool and to encourage regulated firms to commit to policing themselves. We investigate whether voluntary self-reporting can reliably indicate effective self-policing efforts that might provide opportunities for enforcement efficiencies. We find that regulators used self-reports of legal violations as a heuristic for identifying firms that are effectively policing their own operations, shifting enforcement resources away from those that voluntarily disclose. We also find that these firms that voluntarily disclosed regulatory violations and committed to self-policing improved their regulatory compliance and environmental performance, which suggests that the enforcement relief they received was warranted. Collectively, our results suggest that self-reporting can be a useful tool for reliably identifying and leveraging the voluntary self-policing efforts of regulated companies.

Keywords

Environmental Sustainability; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Programs; Governance Compliance; Corporate Disclosure; Law Enforcement

Citation

Toffel, Michael W., and Jodi L. Short. "Coming Clean and Cleaning Up: Does Voluntary Self-Reporting Indicate Effective Self-Policing." Journal of Law & Economics 54, no. 3 (August 2011): 609–649.
  • Find it at Harvard
  • Read Now

About The Author

Michael W. Toffel

Technology and Operations Management
→More Publications

Related Work

    • Dec 2012
    • Faculty Research

    The Regulator's Role in Encouraging Self-policing: Evidence from the EPA's Audit Policy

    By: Michael W. Toffel
    • 2012
    • Faculty Research

    Robust Enforcement Should Complement Voluntary Regulation

    By: Jodi L. Short and Michael W. Toffel
Related Work
  • The Regulator's Role in Encouraging Self-policing: Evidence from the EPA's Audit Policy By: Michael W. Toffel
  • Robust Enforcement Should Complement Voluntary Regulation By: Jodi L. Short and Michael W. Toffel
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College