What design condition affect the outcomes of voluntary environmental programs, and how? A fuzzy-set analysis of 35 cases from Australia, the Netherlands and the United States

Voluntary Environmental Programs (VEPs) have become increasingly popular in addressing environmental risks that are too complex to solve through traditional direct regulatory interventions. Whilst VEPs have attracted much scholarly attention, still little is known how they cause their outcomes. Taking Matthew Potoski and Aseem Prakash’s (2009) ‘club theory perspective’ as a point of departure, the current article seeks to better understand whether and how the design conditions of VEPs affect their outcomes in terms of (a) attracting participants, and (b) their contribution to a desired collective end. A set of six design conditions that the current literature considers relevant for the performance of VEPs is considered. Applying fuzzy set comparative analysis (fsQCA) a series of 35 VEPs from Australia, the Netherlands, and the United States is studied. The study adds to the Potoski and Praksh (2009) framework by making clear interaction effects between VEP design conditions, and adds empirical insight into what combinations of design conditions are related to achieving both the VEP outcomes under scrutiny.