Violations of Regulations by Major Hazard Corporations Explained by Population Heterogeneity and State Dependence

• In Event: Regulation and Prevention of White-Collar Crime

Abstract

Violations of safety regulations by corporations in major hazard industries can have devastating consequences for public safety and the environment. Using rich quantitative data on longitudinal patterns of safety regulation violations, and taking an innovative life-course perspective on corporate crime, this study addresses competing theoretical notions on the origins and development of corporate crime. By including measures of prior violations and company characteristics the current is study able to test competing hypotheses derived from population heterogeneity and state dependence.
State dependence and population heterogeneity have been applied to rule breaking behavior by corporations before. Simpson and Schell (2009) challenged the heterogeneity explanation based on 55 companies in the US. This paper presents the results of a replication study in The Netherlands, using a longitudinal database of 407 major hazard corporations. The attention is on all violations of occupational safety, health and environmental regulations of chemical corporations and their relation to safety records.
The study tests whether the observed link between prior corporate crime and future corporate crime can be explained by population heterogeneity or state dependence.

Authors

• Marlijn Peeters, Leiden University

• Marieke Kluin, Leiden University

• Arjan Blokland, NSCR / Leiden University

• Wim Huisman, VU Amsterdam