Information technologies, community characteristics and environmental outcomes: evidence from South Korea

Abstract

While a growing body of literature suggests the regulatory potential of information and communication technologies for pollution abatement, empirical evidence on the subject remains limited. This research examines whether, and how, the provision of pollution information through government websites helps to address environmental harm in the context of developing countries. Drawing insights from the relevant literature, we construct and test hypotheses about informational and socio-demographic factors that are likely to explain the effectiveness of Internet-aided emission violations control in urban communities as perceived by environmental regulators. Findings from regression analysis indicate that decreases in emission violations as perceived by environmental field officials are: (1) attributable to the quality of municipal websites and local environmental activism; and (2) negatively related to population size. The research highlights the potential in municipalities' initiatives to utilise Internet technologies to provide access to rich environmental information and communication channels that facilitate interactions between citizens, grassroots groups, and regulatory agencies in putting community pressure on polluters.

Keywords:

• Internet technologies
• pollution abatement
• informational and socio-demographic factors

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a grant from Korea University.

Notes

 1. In the United Nations' reports on global e-government survey, Korean e-government was ranked fifth in 2005, sixth in 2008, and top in 2010. Another global e-government assessment report prepared by Brown University put Korean municipal websites on the top of the list (West 2007).

 2. It should be noted that part of this section overlaps with the description of data and methods of our work previously published. It is because this study employs a portion of the data used by that work.

 3. Our web evaluation system includes self-created measures and modifies indicators validated in prior studies to fit the purpose of this research (Beierle and Cahill 2000, West 2001, UN and ASPA 2001, La Porte et al. 2002).

 4. The two local governments that were promoted to city status in October 2003 were not included in the analysis.

 5. An alpha value for the variable (α = 0.657) were over 0.6, the minimum level of acceptance (Garson 2003). According to the result of confirmatory factor analysis, goodness of fit indices validated unidimensionality of the composite items – Chi-square/df = 6.333/2 (p = 0.042), GFI = 0.990, CFI = 0.974, NFI = 0.963, RMR = 0.022.

 6. Because data for the year 2003 for the elite percentage are not available from any sources, we use 2000 year data as proxy for the variable. In addition, we employed the standard of master's degree as indicating social elite standing since it can hardly be said that college graduates are elite in Korean society.

 7. Tests were conducted to check if the data meet the assumptions of normality, non-multicollinearity and homoscedasticity in the regression model. The histograms of standardised residuals proved normal distribution of the data, and residual plot did not show any patterns indicating heteroscedasticity. In addition, any values of the variance inflation factor (VIF) of the independent variables were below 1.511, proving non-multicollinearity.

 8. The sample size (N = 73) accounts for 92.4% of the population, the total number of cities (N = 79) in the country.

 9. Of particular relevance to the above point is Lim and Tang (2002)' s case study of the fierce conflict between two Korean metropolitan cities, Taegu and Pusan, revolving around the construction of a national industrial complex. In an attempt to overcome its economic depression, Taegu city endeavoured to develop a huge scale industrial complex that had strong potential to pollute the Nakdong River, the source of tap water for the residents in both cities. Highly concerned about economic problems, Taegu citizens organised regional coalitions aimed at promoting the development to tackle the opposition from Pusan citizens. Taegu citizens' intense political mobilisation for the project drew nation-wide attention to the issue and prolonged the confrontation between the two cities for more than 10 years. This case represents political participation for pro-economic collective action in Korea.

10. The critical role of the regionalism in Korean politics is shown by the striking results of elections. In the 2000 and 2004 congressional election, for example, the Grand National Party won approximately 96% and 90% of seats in Yeongnam, and the Demographic Party and the disassociated Uri Party won approximately 80% and 98% in Honam, respectively (Hix and Jun 2009).

11. Despite their adoption of environmental sustainability, both parties have actively driven policies negatively influencing ecology. For example, when Democratic presidents held office from 1998 to 2007, the government announced sustainable development as a policy framework but implemented the abolishment of the Greenbelt, environmental deregulation, nation-wide golf-course development and a number of construction projects for the balanced development of the country. Announcing ‘low carbon and green growth’ policies, the incumbent president Lee Myeong Bak from the Grand National Party has also been actively driving huge-scale construction under the ‘Four Major Rivers Restoration Project’, in spite of strong opposition from civil society for its environmentally devastating potential. Thus, both parties maintain contradictory attitudes in that they announced support for pro-environmentalism, but actually place priority on development that is likely to undermine sustainability.

12. We are grateful to an anonymous reviewer for making this insightful point.