How Green is Your Campus? An Analysis of the Factors that Drive Universities to Embrace Sustainability

Sarah Stafford ()
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Sarah Stafford: Department of Economics, College of William and Mary

No 77, Working Papers from Department of Economics, College of William and Mary

Abstract: I examine the factors that influence the adoption of sustainable practices by institutions of higher education (IHEs) in the U.S. Using data from the Sustainable Endowments Institute, I conduct an ordered probit analysis on 180 IHEs. The results show that size and wealth are significant factors in the adoption of sustainable practices and that stakeholders such as faculty, alumni, and the surrounding community also play an important role. I find no evidence that institutions adopt sustainability to attract students. Also, in contrast to the findings of similar studies on for-profit entities, there is no evidence that regulatory pressures encourage campus sustainability. I also examine the factors that affect the institutions’ decision to sign the Presidents Climate Commitment (PCC), a largely symbolic gesture. The results for the PCC are quite different than those for overall sustainability. Most importantly, neither wealth or size are significant factors in that decision.

Keywords: Sustainability; Higher Education; Regulatory Pressures; Stakeholder Influences; Voluntary Practices (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I23 L30 Q01 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 46 pages
Date: 2008-09-25, Revised 2010-09-15
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-env
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