Suchergebnisse

This research assesses changes in the patterns of ozone and particulate concentrations and the associations of these pollutants with socioeconomic factors from 1990 to 1999 in the South Coast Air Basin of California. The results are somewhat different in 1999 than in 1990 and suggest that demographic changes, in concert with changes in emissions and resulting air pollution patterns, determine the pattern of air pollution exposure and how exposure changes over time. (JEL)

This study associates levels of exposure to ozone and fine particulate matter in the South Coast Air Basin of California with resident income, race, age and education. A Regional Human Exposure Model provides the basis for estimating exposure not only on location or residence, but also on mobility within the Basin and time spent in various activities indoors and outdoors. The results are consonant with earlier research in most respects, except that population density is negatively related to exposure. Ethnic minorities and children receive the greatest exposure levels. The highest income group exhibits a strongly negative association with exposure.

Economists long have argued that economic incentives can reduce pollution more efficiently than do narrow regulatory prescriptions, but this theory has not enjoyed wide application. Southern California experiences the worst air pollution in the United States and has developed the most complex set of regulatory approaches in the world to address the problem. Rising costs and increasing resistance to further regulation led to the Regional Clean Air Incentives Market (RECLAIM) program, which is expected to reduce pollution control costs by about 50 percent over a decade (relative to direct regulation). This paper describes the theoretical advantages of pollution trading, clearly identifies three criteria that acceptable economic incentive‐based programs must meet, explains the structure of RECLAIM, and raises issues regarding firm behavior in response to a newly created asset with an initial price of zero.

Policymakers in the legislative and regulatory arenas face increasing public expectations that authorities will both promulgate and implement strict environmental programs. At the same time, the aggregate cost of such programs is rising and is impacting economic sectors previously untouched. In this context, a major study used an integrated interdisciplinary perspective to determine what economic benefits would result from air pollution controls. Specifically, the study developed estimates for the health benefits of reducing ozone and fine particulate matter concentrations in the nation's most polluted region—the South Coast Air Basin centering on Los Angeles. This paper presents the economic methodologies and results of that study. It also discusses how health and atmospheric sciences informed the economic assessment.

Air quality in the South Coast Air Basin of southern California has improved significantly over the past decade, although pollution levels continue to exceed health‐based standards on a significant number of days. This study estimates the decline in ozone‐related school absences in southern California over the 1990s, reported as differences in the number of days of respiratory illness–related absences, the number of days of all illness‐related absences, and the economic loss to families of those absences. The study reports differences in the number of these effects for the intervals 1990–92 to 1997–99, for rolling three‐year intervals to 1997–99 across that period, and for expected future reductions in ozone. The baseline population is the cohort aged 5–18 residing in the South Coast Air Basin in 1998. For the interval 1990–92 to 1997–99, the economic value of fewer school absences ranges from $156 million annually to more than $330 million annually, with a best estimate of $245 million. This represents a benefit of nearly $75, on average, for every school‐age child in the region. (JEL I10, I12, Q2, Q25)

Editor's Note: This is an edited transcription of the general session of the January 1998 Pacific Rim Allied Economic Organizations 3rd Biennial Conference, held in Bangkok, Thailand.