An institutional approach to the environmental management systems of golf courses in Andalusia

Abstract

In many tourist destinations, such as Andalusia in Spain, the number of golf courses has increased exponentially, which has generated a public debate about how to reconcile economic development and respect for the natural environment. This paper analyzes its highly institutionalized context - and the main practices that derive from it - and test empirically, in a sample of golf courses located in Andalusia, the relationships between these practices with its corresponding coercive, normative and mimetic mechanisms. Finally, its relationship with the performance of these organizations is established, testing if a direct or indirect relationship, through the search for legitimacy, exists, as suggested by the Institutional Theory.