Review of the Porter Hypothesis and the related literature

Abstract

Beginning in the 1970s and 1980s, interested citizen, non-governmental organizations and policy makers became increasingly aware of the potentially negative consequences of ever growing economic activity and resource demand. The notion of finite resources, the unsustainability of prevailing consumption levels in the industrialized world, and accordingly the need to preserve these natural resources spread very quickly. Prominent hallmarks of the developing modern environmental movement are the celebration of the first Earth Day in 1970, the foundation of Greenpeace in 1971 and the presentation of the Limits to Growth report by the Club of Rome in 1972 (Jaffe, Peterson, Portney, & Stavins, 1995)