Regulatory enforcement and compliance: Examining Danish agro-environmentalpolicy

This study Of municipal enforcement of agro-environmental regulations in De nmark provides an empirical understanding of how enforcement affects compli ance. A key contribution is sorting out the relative influence of inspector s' different styles of enforcement and choices made by enforcement agencies . The latter are shown to be more important in bringing about compliance th an ave inspectors' enforcement styles. Municipal agencies are shown to incr ease compliance through the use of third parties, more frequent inspection, and setting priorities for inspection of major items. The findings about e nforcement styles of inspectors suggest if is necessary to get tough tip to a point, but beyond that the threat of coevcion can be counterproductive. These findings cast doubt on the effectiveness of overly legalistic enforce ment styles, particularly for the Danish culture with its strong emphasis o n cooperation and consultation in regulation. But the findings also advise us to be cautious about the use of cooperative styles of enforcement in tha t we find evidence for capture of the enforcement process by agricultural o rganizations. This leads to a more nuanced view of enforcement rather than the broad generalizations found in the literature concerning legalism and c ooperation. (C) 1999 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Mana gement.