The Dataset "ENVIPOLCONCHANGE (Environmental Policy Change). A dataset on environmental regulations in 24 OECD countries from 1970 to 2005" has been collected by the ENVIPOLCON group at the University of Konstanz (Stephan Heichel, Katharina Holzinger, Christoph Knill, Thomas Sommerer) in 2009. Data collection was funded by the German Research Foundation DFG (Grant HO 1811/3-1; KN 891/1-1)."

The names of most variables follow the following structure:
epcc_in2 - the introduction of the policy for the first time;
epcc
ch2 - change in the policy, including the introduction;
epcc
s, epcc_car, and epcc_lcp_* - standards, such as limit values on emissions and similar,

where * is a code of the policy issue.

Dataset type
Other
Dataset level
Country

Citation

When using this dataset, please cite as:

• Holzinger, K., Knill, C., & Sommerer, T. (2011). Is there convergence of national environmental policies? An analysis of policy outputs in 24 OECD countries. Environmental Politics, 20(1), 20–41. https://www.polver.uni-konstanz.de/holzinger/research/research-projects/policy-wandel-in-der-umweltpolitik-der-einfluss-von-nationalen-vetospielern-und-transnationalem-policy-learning/der-datensatz-environmental-policy-chance-envipolchange/

Variables in this dataset

Browse variables and select them for download.

Change in eco audit policy
QoG code: epcc_audi_ch2

The variable measures whether there was a change in the policy for eco-audit in the recorded year. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when there was a change in the policy, i ...

Eco audit policy introduction
QoG code: epcc_audi_in2

The variable measures the first introduction of the policy for eco-audit. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when the policy was first introduced and "0" is assigned to all o ...

The variable measures whether there was a change in the policy for the quality of bathing water in the recorded year. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when there was a chan ...

The variable measures the first introduction of the policy for quality of bathing water. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when the policy was first introduced and "0" is as ...

A limit value for CO emissions in g/km, adjusted.

A limit value for HC emissions in g/km, adjusted.

A limit value for NOx emissions in g/km, adjusted.

The variable measures whether there was a change in the policy for exhaust emissions from cars in the recorded year. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when there was a chang ...

The variable measures the first introduction of the policy for exhaust emissions from cars. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when the policy was first introduced and "0" is ...

Sum of downward changes in all 17 variables that measure standards/regulatory levels in the recorded year. Higher score, on average, corresponds to a decrease in policy standards.

Sum of all upward changes in the 17 variables that measure standards/regulatory levels included in this dataset in the recorded year. Higher score corresponds to, on average, increased policy standard ...

Sum of all changes in policies, including introductions, in the recorded year.

Cumulative sum of all Policy-in-Place variables. Higher score corresponds to a higher number of policies in place.

The variable measures whether there was a change in the policy for contaminated sites in the recorded year. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when there was a change in the ...

The variable measures the first introduction of the policy for contaminated sites. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when the policy was first introduced and "0" is assigned ...

The variable measures whether there was a change in the policy for recycling construction waste in the recorded year. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when there was a chan ...

The variable measures the first introduction of the policy for recycling of construction waste. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when the policy was first introduced and "0 ...

The variable measures whether there was a change in the policy for hazardous substances in detergents in the recorded year. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when there was ...

The variable measures the first introduction of the policy for hazardous substances in detergents. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when the policy was first introduced and ...

Change in ecolabel policy
QoG code: epcc_ecol_ch2

The variable measures whether there was a change in the policy for eco-labelling in the recorded year. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when there was a change in the polic ...

Ecolabel policy introduction
QoG code: epcc_ecol_in2

The variable measures the first introduction of the policy for eco-labeling. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when the policy was first introduced and "0" is assigned to al ...

The variable measures whether there was a change in the policy for environmental impact assessment in the recorded year. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when there was a c ...

The variable measures the first introduction of the policy for environmental impact assessment. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when the policy was first introduced and "0 ...

The variable measures whether there was a change in the policy for the energy efficiency of refrigerators in the recorded year. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when there ...

The variable measures the first introduction of the policy for energy efficiency of refrigerators. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when the policy was first introduced and ...

Glass reuse/recycling target in percent of total waste generated.

The variable measures whether there was a change in the policy for glass reuse/recycling target in the recorded year. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when there was a chan ...

The variable measures the first introduction of the policy for glass reuse/recycling target. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when the policy was first introduced and "0" i ...

Sum of first policy introductions
QoG code: epcc_intro_kum

Sum of all variables measuring the first introduction of a policy. Higher number corresponds to a higher number of policies being adopted in the recorded year.

The variable measures whether there was a change in the policy for waste landfill target in the recorded year. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when there was a change in t ...

The variable measures the first introduction of the policy for waste landfill target. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when the policy was first introduced and "0" is assig ...

A limit value for dust from large combustion plants in mg/m3.

A limit value for NOx emissions from large combustion plants in mg/m3.

A limit value for SO2 emissions from large combustion plants in mg/m3.

The variable measures whether there was a change in the policy for airborne emissions from large combustion plants in the recorded year. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year wh ...

The variable measures the first introduction of the policy for airborne emissions from large combustion plants. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when the policy was first i ...

The variable measures whether there was a change in the policy for lead emissions from vehicles in the recorded year. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when there was a chan ...

The variable measures the first introduction of the policy for lead emissions from vehicles. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when the policy was first introduced and "0" i ...

A limit value for lead content in petrol in g/l.

The variable measures whether there was a change in the policy for noise level around motorways in the recorded year. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when there was a chan ...

The variable measures the first introduction of the policy for noise level around motorways. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when the policy was first introduced and "0" i ...

Motorway noise emissions standard in decibel (dB (A)).

The variable measures whether there was a change in the policy for noise emissions from lorries in the recorded year. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when there was a chan ...

The variable measures the first introduction of the policy for noise emissions from lorries. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when the policy was first introduced and "0" i ...

Noise emissions standard from lorries in decibel (dB(a)).

The variable measures whether there was a change in the policy for waste packaging target in the recorded year. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when there was a change in ...

The variable measures the first introduction of the policy for waste packaging target. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when the policy was first introduced and "0" is assi ...

Waste paper reuse/recycling target in percent of waste generated.

The variable measures whether there was a change in the policy for waste paper reuse/recycling target in the recorded year. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when there was ...

The variable measures the first introduction of the policy for waste paper reuse/recycling target. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when the policy was first introduced and ...

Change in soil policy
QoG code: epcc_soil_ch2

The variable measures whether there was a change in the soil policy in the recorded year. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when there was a change in the policy, including ...

Soil policy introduction
QoG code: epcc_soil_in2

The variable measures the first introduction of the soil policy. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when the policy was first introduced and "0" is assigned to all other year ...

The variable measures whether there was a change in the policy for sulphur content in gas oil in the recorded year. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when there was a chang ...

The variable measures the first introduction of the policy for sulphur content in gas oil. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when the policy was first introduced and "0" is ...

A limit value for sulphur content in gas oil, as % per weight.

The variable measures whether there was a change in the policy for the national environmental policy or sustainable development plan in the recorded year. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assig ...

The variable expresses the first introduction of the policy for the national environmental policy or sustainable development plan. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when the ...

A limit value for biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) in industrial discharges in mg/l.

A limit value for Copper in industrial discharges in mg/l.

A limit value for Chromium in industrial discharges in mg/l.

The variable measures whether there was a change in the policy for efficient use of the water industry in the recorded year. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when there was ...

The variable measures the first introduction of the policy for efficient use of the water industry. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when the policy was first introduced an ...

A limit value for Lead in industrial discharges in mg/l.

The variable measures whether there was a change in the policy for water protection in industrial discharges in the recorded year. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when the ...

The variable measures the first introduction of the policy for water protection in industrial discharges. This is a binary variable, where "1" is assigned to the year when the policy was first introdu ...

A limit value for Zinc in industrial discharges in mg/l.