Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Changing the behaviour of firms to take environmental concerns into account is seen as unlikely without effective regulations. However, corporations are increasingly keen to represent themselves as ‘green’, including those in the world’s largest manufacturing sector: the car industry. Given rising concern for the environment and environmental sustainability since the 1990s this thesis asks: what motivates car firms to actually make environmental commitments? Answering this question has implications for whether these commitments are ‘real’ and if so whether they are occurring in response to material factors (e.g. state regulations and consumer demand) versus normative factors (e.g. social attitudes and internal company strategies). In order to answer it, the thesis applies the insights of the institutional varieties of capitalism approach to the German, United States and Japanese car industries, and specific firms within them, in respect of the environmental issue of climate change from 1990 to 2004. Empirical national data is analysed, as well the environmental reporting of individual firms and interviews with key personnel. The main findings are that what leads the car industry to see environmental issues as central to their business interests hinges on the impact of differing national institutional factors. Specifically, it is a matter of whether firms have a liberal market economy (LME) as their home base, in the case of US firms, or a coordinated market economy (CME) as their home base, in the case of German and Japanese firms. US car firms react more to the material imperatives of consumer demand and state regulations. German and Japanese firms are more mindful of normative factors for their initiatives, such as social attitudes (especially for German firms) and internal company strategies (especially for Japanese firms). They have more of a partnership approach with government. Therefore, car firms have very distinct ‘lenses’ through which they see the environmental performance of the cars they produce. As such, the thesis concludes that the variety of capitalism of nations has implications not just for the type of products that economic actors such as car firms produce, and the competitive advantages they develop, but also the way they address related issues arising as a result of their activities, including environmental issues.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Changing the behaviour of firms to take environmental concerns into account is seen as unlikely without effective regulations. However, corporations are increasingly keen to represent themselves as ‘green’, including those in the world’s largest manufacturing sector: the car industry. Given rising concern for the environment and environmental sustainability since the 1990s this thesis asks: what motivates car firms to actually make environmental commitments? Answering this question has implications for whether these commitments are ‘real’ and if so whether they are occurring in response to material factors (e.g. state regulations and consumer demand) versus normative factors (e.g. social attitudes and internal company strategies). In order to answer it, the thesis applies the insights of the institutional varieties of capitalism approach to the German, United States and Japanese car industries, and specific firms within them, in respect of the environmental issue of climate change from 1990 to 2004. Empirical national data is analysed, as well the environmental reporting of individual firms and interviews with key personnel. The main findings are that what leads the car industry to see environmental issues as central to their business interests hinges on the impact of differing national institutional factors. Specifically, it is a matter of whether firms have a liberal market economy (LME) as their home base, in the case of US firms, or a coordinated market economy (CME) as their home base, in the case of German and Japanese firms. US car firms react more to the material imperatives of consumer demand and state regulations. German and Japanese firms are more mindful of normative factors for their initiatives, such as social attitudes (especially for German firms) and internal company strategies (especially for Japanese firms). They have more of a partnership approach with government. Therefore, car firms have very distinct ‘lenses’ through which they see the environmental performance of the cars they produce. As such, the thesis concludes that the variety of capitalism of nations has implications not just for the type of products that economic actors such as car firms produce, and the competitive advantages they develop, but also the way they address related issues arising as a result of their activities, including environmental issues.

Os serviços ambientais são o tema de discussão desta tese, que apresenta análise de casos brasileiros de projetos de pagamentos por serviços ambientais (PSA), dando ênfase a casos de PSA-Água e PSA-Carbono. Os projetos são analisados sob a ótica da Nova Economia Institucional (NEI) com percepção analítica em diversos aspectos, como arranjos institucionais, ambiente institucional, remuneração pelos serviços ambientais, fontes de financiamento, e monitoramento da prestação dos serviços. Da análise dos projetos, identificou-se que todos são de existência recente, por isso os dados disponíveis são escassos. Na maioria dos arranjos institucionais desses projetos, há participação de entidades públicas e privadas, e uma significativa participação de recurso público em seu financiamento. Os projetos apontam os potenciais benefícios à sociedade e ao meio ambiente e suas possíveis limitações. A identificação das restrições na fase inicial do projeto é importante, pois permite que sejam evitadas ou, ao menos, minimizadas, otimizando a alocação dos recursos a ele destinados. Percebe-se que são projetos promissores, razoavelmente estáveis em sua maioria, com potencial de evolução, eficazes e eficientes no tocante ao emprego dos recursos direcionados aos financiamentos. Os critérios analisados nesses projetos podem ser aplicados a outros similares, da mesma forma como as lições depreendidas podem subsidiar a estruturação e a gestão de futuros projetos de PSA. Por fim, é fundamental consignar que o mercado de serviços ambientais só funcionará de forma eficiente com a presença de arranjos institucionais que atendam à demanda específica desses serviços. / Environmental services are the topic of discussion of this thesis, which presents case studies of Brazilians of payments for environmental services (PES) projects, emphasizing the cases of PSA and PSA-Water-Carbon. The projects are analyzed from the perspective of New Institutional Economics (NIE) with analytical insight into aspects such as institutional arrangements, institutional environment, compensation for environmental services, funding sources, and monitoring of service delivery. Analysis of the projects, it was identified that there are all recent, so the data available are scarce. Institutional arrangements in most of these projects, there is participation of public and private entities, and meaningful participation in public resource funding. The projects show the potential benefits to society and the environment and their possible limitations. The identification of constraints in the initial phase of the project is important as it allows them to be avoided or at least minimized by optimizing the allocation of resources allocated to it. Realize that they are promising projects, mostly fairly stable, with potential for development, effective and efficient with respect to employment of resources directed to financing. The criteria analyzed in these projects can be applied to other similar, just as the inferred lessons can support the structuring and management of future PES projects. Finally, it is essential to establish that the market for environmental services only work efficiently with the presence of institutional arrangements that meet the specific demand for these services.

Os serviços ambientais são o tema de discussão desta tese, que apresenta análise de casos brasileiros de projetos de pagamentos por serviços ambientais (PSA), dando ênfase a casos de PSA-Água e PSA-Carbono. Os projetos são analisados sob a ótica da Nova Economia Institucional (NEI) com percepção analítica em diversos aspectos, como arranjos institucionais, ambiente institucional, remuneração pelos serviços ambientais, fontes de financiamento, e monitoramento da prestação dos serviços. Da análise dos projetos, identificou-se que todos são de existência recente, por isso os dados disponíveis são escassos. Na maioria dos arranjos institucionais desses projetos, há participação de entidades públicas e privadas, e uma significativa participação de recurso público em seu financiamento. Os projetos apontam os potenciais benefícios à sociedade e ao meio ambiente e suas possíveis limitações. A identificação das restrições na fase inicial do projeto é importante, pois permite que sejam evitadas ou, ao menos, minimizadas, otimizando a alocação dos recursos a ele destinados. Percebe-se que são projetos promissores, razoavelmente estáveis em sua maioria, com potencial de evolução, eficazes e eficientes no tocante ao emprego dos recursos direcionados aos financiamentos. Os critérios analisados nesses projetos podem ser aplicados a outros similares, da mesma forma como as lições depreendidas podem subsidiar a estruturação e a gestão de futuros projetos de PSA. Por fim, é fundamental consignar que o mercado de serviços ambientais só funcionará de forma eficiente com a presença de arranjos institucionais que atendam à demanda específica desses serviços. / Environmental services are the topic of discussion of this thesis, which presents case studies of Brazilians of payments for environmental services (PES) projects, emphasizing the cases of PSA and PSA-Water-Carbon. The projects are analyzed from the perspective of New Institutional Economics (NIE) with analytical insight into aspects such as institutional arrangements, institutional environment, compensation for environmental services, funding sources, and monitoring of service delivery. Analysis of the projects, it was identified that there are all recent, so the data available are scarce. Institutional arrangements in most of these projects, there is participation of public and private entities, and meaningful participation in public resource funding. The projects show the potential benefits to society and the environment and their possible limitations. The identification of constraints in the initial phase of the project is important as it allows them to be avoided or at least minimized by optimizing the allocation of resources allocated to it. Realize that they are promising projects, mostly fairly stable, with potential for development, effective and efficient with respect to employment of resources directed to financing. The criteria analyzed in these projects can be applied to other similar, just as the inferred lessons can support the structuring and management of future PES projects. Finally, it is essential to establish that the market for environmental services only work efficiently with the presence of institutional arrangements that meet the specific demand for these services.