Environmental policy and industrial response in Nigeria

The debate on environmental regulation and industrial competitiveness of developing countries rages on with no easy solution to the micro-level problems it poses to firms. The discourse in this article demonstrates that firms' responses to environmental policy are influenced by local and foreign environmental regulatory regimes and the perceived sustainability objectives that firms pursue. The empirical illustrations drawn from a survey of Nigerian firms showed that a weak environmental policy regime might not be a deterrent to significant technology responses for pollution control. However, this does not imply that environmental policy should not be strengthened or enforced with more rigour. Rather, the empirical cases demonstrated that firms' decisions to respond are influenced by the intricate links between the prevailing regime of environmental policy under which firms are operating and the economic, social and environmental motives of firms. The findings suggest that policies aimed at promoting environmentally friendly behaviour of industrial firms should not be limited to environmental policy. Equally important are technology and industrial policies which are also capable of promoting ecological objectives.