Suchergebnisse

Many states in the US impose taxes on hazardous waste. This paper conducts an empirical evaluation of the determinants of these taxes and reviews earlier research on their effects on hazardous waste. Earlier studies have shown that the taxes affect waste management, but my results and other evidence suggest that the tax-induced changes may not have improved welfare. Taxes on industrial hazardous waste are one of the most extensive uses of pollution taxes in the United States. The federal government and many states governments have implemented such taxes. The diversity of hazardous waste taxes makes them an interesting example of pollution taxes because we can compare the responses of polluters to different tax regimes. In this paper, I discuss the existing state and federal hazardous waste taxes and issues in their design and implementation. The paper then presents an empirical analysis of the tax rates adopted by states. In particular, the question is: do these taxes reflect the environmental costs of waste as opposed to other government objectives? Although an earlier study (Levinson, 2003) examines determinants of tax rates, the analysis here expands the hypothesized sources of variation and emphasizes the role of external costs. The results provide some evidence that taxes vary with environmental costs – making it possible that they improve welfare – but also point to non-environmental determinants and much unexplained variation. I then review the literature on the empirical effects of these taxes on pollution and economic behavior. Studies have found only small effects of the state taxes, but these effects indicate that waste generators and managers do respond to the incentives created by taxes. The following section evaluates the advantages and disadvantages of existing taxes on hazardous waste and proposes some alternatives. A final section briefly concludes with an assessment of the U.S. experience with these taxes.

This paper explores policy options for reducing lead in municipal solid waste. It focuses on policies that rely on economic incentives, such as taxes, deposit-refunds, and recycled content standards. The paper addresses the relative cost effectiveness of these approaches and also considers the overall desirability of government intervention to reduce lead disposal.

This paper examines whether trade relationships facilitate resolution of international environmental spillovers. Trade might promote cooperation by providing opportunities for implicit side payments, allowing linkage between nvironmental and trade concessions, providing direct leverage over other countries' production, or instilling a perception of shared goals. Using data from the UN's Global Environmental Monitoring System (GEMS) on water quality in international rivers, the paper examines the influence of bilateral trade on pollution in rivers that cross international borders. In equations with country fixed effects, the paper finds evidence of lower water pollution in rivers shared between countries with more extensive trade.

Under most U.S. environmental regulations, the federal government shares responsibility with the states by authorizing them to implement and enforce federal policies. Authorization provides states with considerable discretion over the effects of regulation and is perhaps the most significant decentralization in U.S. environmental policy. However, few studies address its role. To fill this gap, this paper explores the empirical determinants of authorization for water pollution and hazardous waste regulation. No single hypothesis strongly explains authorization, but I find some evidence that states authorize to increase the stringency of regulation. This evidence points to desirable effects of decentralization.

Regulation of hazardous waste and cleanup of contaminated sites are two major components of modern public policy for environmental protection. We review the literature on these related areas, with emphasis on empirical analyses. Researchers have identified many behavioral responses to regulation of hazardous waste, including changes in the location of economic activity. However, the drivers behind compliance with these costly regulations remain a puzzle, as most research suggests a limited role for conventional enforcement. Increasingly sophisticated research examines the benefits of cleanup of contaminated sites, yet controversy remains about whether the benefits of cleanup in the U.S. exceed its costs. Finally, research focusing on the imposition of legal liability for damages from hazardous waste finds advantages and disadvantages of the U.S. reliance on legal liability to pay for cleanup, as opposed to the government-financed approaches more common in Europe.