Abstract
This study proposes a methodology for assessing social capacity for environmental management (SCEM) which contributes to urban air quality improvement by identifying the actors and factors constituting the social capacity explicitly. To do so, a structural equation model is applied to estimate the effects of social actors (i.e., government, firms, and citizens) and factors (i.e., policy & measure, resource management and knowledge & technology) to urban air quality management in 5 major cities in Japan. Using a panel data set for years between 1971 and 2000, a new evaluation method for capacity development is proposed called as "Actor-Factor Matrix evaluation".
