USING INSPECTION AND MAINTENANCE PROGRAMS TO REGULATE VEHICLE EMISSIONS

Policymakers have hoped that vehicle inspection and maintenance programs would generate air quality improvements at low cost. Existing programs have been unsuccessful because they have failed to provide consumers with incentives to maintain their vehicles so as to have low in-use emissions. This paper examines the reasons why existing inspection and maintenance programs have failed and investigates how they might be improved. Copyright 1997 Western Economic Association International.