Institutional Change & Organizational Strategy: Iso 14001 and Emissions in the Electronics Industry.

Institution theory and the resource-based theory of the firm represent two explanations of how organizations adapt to institutional change. These two theories are compared, contrasted, and applied to the context of environmental management. Arguments based on the theories are used to generate hypotheses about the diffusion and efficacy of the ISO 14001 system, a set of voluntary environmental standards. Empirical tests of the factors lying behind adoption of the ISO 14001 standards and whether or not the standards lead to toxic emissions reductions are conducted on a set of 316 electronics facilities located in the United States. Results support the idea that the standards allow facilities to