On Spatial Heterogeneity in Environmental Compliance Costs
September 2009
Working Paper Number:
CES-09-25R
Abstract
This paper examines the extent of variation in regulatory stringency below the state level, using establishment-level data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Pollution Abatement Costs and Expenditures (PACE) survey to estimate a county-level index of environmental compliance costs (ECC). County-level variation is found to explain 11-18 times more of the variation in ECC than state-level variation alone, and the range of ECC within a state is often large. At least 34% of U.S. counties have ECC that are statistically different from their states'. Results suggest that important spatial variation is lost in state-level studies of environmental regulation.
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:
estimating,
cost,
state,
expenditure,
depreciation,
regulated,
regulation,
regulatory,
country,
emission,
pollution,
enforcement,
environmental regulation,
environmental,
geographically,
abatement expenditures,
polluting,
pollution abatement,
polluting industries,
environmental expenditures,
estimates pollution
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:
Census of Manufactures,
Annual Survey of Manufactures,
American Economic Association,
Center for Economic Studies,
Ordinary Least Squares,
Establishment Micro Properties,
PAOC,
Pollution Abatement Costs and Expenditures,
Journal of Economic Literature,
National Ambient Air Quality Standards,
Herfindahl Hirschman Index
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