Final answer:
Firms typically respond to informal negative sanctions, such as social media backlash and public shaming, due to immediate economic impacts, rather than formal legal consequences under C&C regulation.
Step-by-step explanation:
Regarding non-compliance in command-and-control (C&C) regulation, firms often respond more actively to informal negative sanctions rather than formal legal consequences. This is because informal sanctions such as social media backlash and public shaming can have immediate and profound impacts on a firm's reputation and customer base, affecting their economic incentives. Societies impose informal sanctions through social control mechanisms, and these can be more effective at times than formal legal penalties, which may take time to be enforced and may not have as direct an effect on consumer behavior.
Command-and-control regulation typically specifies allowable levels of pollution and mandates the use of pollution-control technologies. However, these formal guidelines must be bolstered by the anticipation of social sanctions, as consumers can inflict economic disincentives faster than legal processes. This shows the significant role of societal expectations and norms in the effectiveness of regulations aimed at accounting for the social costs of pollution.