Do Companies Pay the Price for Environmental Crimes? The Impact of Criminal Penalties on Corporate Offenders

• In Event: Green Criminology 1

Abstract

Recent assessments of the regulation and criminal sanctioning of corporate and white-collar offenders in the U.S. have attributed the lack thereof to a debilitation in regulatory oversight at federal and state levels, both in terms of enforcement priorities and budgetary constraints. Nevertheless, empirical assessments—despite being mixed—have found significant effects of criminal sanctions on both legal and extralegal outcomes. We focus here on the latter, specifically with regard to the economic fate of corporate environmental offenders in terms of firm revenues and size (number of employees), both before and after the levying of criminal penalties. Multivariate analyses are based on a unique dataset compiled from federal prosecution documents, historical firm data, and EPA enforcement and compliance data. We conclude with a discussion of the theoretical and policy implications of criminal penalties for corporate environmental offenders.

Authors

• Mike Maume, University of North Carolina at Wilmington

• Matthew Greife, University of Georgia