We exploit cross-sectional repair cost and emissions data to estimate an abatement cost schedule for vehicles participating in a program in California's San Joaquin Valley to reduce tailpipe emissions. We find that 1995 and older model year vehicles have a lower marginal abatement cost than...

Not as much abatement as has been presumed. Smog check programs aim to curb tailpipe emissions from in-use vehicles by requiring repairs whenever emissions, measured at regular time intervals, exceed a certain threshold. Using data from California, we estimate that on average 41% of the initial...