Enforcement Styles, Organizational Commitment, and Enforcement Effectiveness: An Empirical Study of Local Environmental Protection Officials in Urban China

Shui-Yan Tang, Carlos Wing-Hung Lo and Gerald E Fryxell
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Shui-Yan Tang: School of Policy, Planning, and Development, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0626, USA
Carlos Wing-Hung Lo: Department of Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hum Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Gerald E Fryxell: China Europe International Business School, Shanghai, People's Republic of China

Environment and Planning A, 2003, vol. 35, issue 1, 75-94

Abstract: The authors investigated the relationship between enforcement styles and perceptions of enforcement effectiveness in China by surveying three groups of environmental protection bureau officials from the major cities of Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Dalian. In general, it was found that organizational commitment partially mediates the relationship between the enforcement style of prioritization and perceptions of effectiveness. In this case, mediation and direct effects work together such that prioritization has by far the greatest positive total effect. In contrast, a coercive enforcement style is more completely mediated by organizational commitment, but this relationship is negative (that is, a coercive style appears to reduce organizational commitment, leading to lower perceptions of enforcement effectiveness). Although some differences are noted among the three samples, the overall pattern suggests that other enforcement styles (formalism, education, and external influence) appear to be much less influential in shaping perceptions of enforcement effectiveness.

Date: 2003
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:envira:v:35:y:2003:i:1:p:75-94

DOI: 10.1068/a359

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