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THE COLLAPSE OF THE SOVIET UNION HAS HEIGHTENED ALARM OVER THE FATE OF THE THOUSANDS OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS DEPLOYED ACROSS IT'S FORMER TERRITORIES. THE WORRY IS THAT THE NEW STATES' PLEDGES TO DISARM MAY BE OVERTURNED AND CENTRAL CONTROL WEAKENED BY ECONOMIC HARDSHIP AND THE LIKELY CONFLICT BETWEEN THE NEW NATIONS. BUT THE POLITICAL CHANGES ALSO BRING GREAT OPPORTUNITIES. THE AUTHOR WRITES THAT THERE IS NOW THE CHANCE TO DE-NUCLEARIZE MUCH OF EURASIA AND TO ACHIEVE DEEP CUTS IN THE US AND RUSSIAN ARSENALS. THE SOVIET UNION'S DEMISE HAS SHOWN THAT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT-NOT THE POSSESSION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS-IS THE MAIN GUARANTOR OF THE SECURITY OF STATES.

This paper uses newly available data on plant level regulatory status linked to the Census Longitudinal Business Database to measure the impact of changes in county level environmental regulations on plant and sector employment levels. Estimates from a variety of specifications suggest a strong connection between changes in environmental regulatory stringency and both employment growth and levels in the affected sectors. The preferred estimates suggest that changes in county level regulatory status due to the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments reduced the size of the regulated sector by as much as 15 percent in the 10 years following the changes.