Barriers to innovation in response to regulatory reform: Performance-based forest practices regulation in British Columbia

Regulatory reformers have shown increased interest in performance-based regulation that focuses on the objectives being pursued rather than the means or process by which they are achieved. This article examines a revealing case of behavioral response to regulatory reform: the response of regulated entities to a new, more performance-based form of environmental regulation of forest operation in British Columbia, Canada. We examine the implementation of the new system of forest regulation by analyzing the operational plans produced through the first round of the new framework's implementation. We expected to see innovation in the Forest Stewardship Plans proposed by forest companies. However, forest companies' concerns for costs, risk and liability, and values and perceptions of forest management limited the extent of innovation.