Costs of information: increasing environmental expenditures. Most major corporations are spending in the tens of millions of dollars annually on environmental costs, with the larger ones spending in the hundreds of millions and some spending more than US$1 billion per year (Epstein 1996: xxv).

a What factors might have led to increases in environmental expenditures for organisations in environmentally sensitive industries (e.g. chemicals)?

b Are there any offsetting factors that might lead to a reduction in the cost of obtaining information about environmental impacts?