Water quality regulation continues to be controversial, as demonstrated by recent litigation between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state of Florida over nutrient standards. While the costs of standards are usually known, benefits may be diverse and difficult to identify. This...

Although there is evidence that people are aware of local ozone levels and may adjust their day-to-day routines when ozone levels change, little is known about the relationship between local ozone levels and the timing of residential moves. Results from a discrete-time hazard model suggest that...

Duty-orientation implies a warm glow of giving as well as a cold shiver of not giving enough. If duty-oriented consumers learn their moral responsibility by observing others’ behavior, social interaction in contribution behavior arises. However, since moral responsibility is a burden,...

Virtually all U.S. states have now created voluntary cleanup programs (VCPs), offering liability relief and other incentives for responsible parties to remediate contaminated sites. We use a multinomial probit model to analyze participation in Oregon’s two VCPs. In contrast to previous VCP...

U.S. and E.U. environmental policy employ criminal sanctions to enforce compliance. Recent moves toward revising their use are based on little empirical evidence as to their effectiveness. This paper exploits a unique dataset to study the deterrent effect of criminal enforcement. The dynamic...

This paper explores the empirical effects of decentralization on environmental quality by studying water pollution in rivers around the world. It examines the level of pollution and variation in pollution across jurisdictions within a country, for both a local and a regional pollutant. Federal...

This study examines the effect of waste and recycling policy on scrap prices and the importance of scrap price feedbacks as a determinant of policy costs. Price effects and direct and indirect channels of waste reduction are decomposed for deposit/refund, advance disposal fee, and recycling...

Estimating the economic benefits of reduced health damages due to improvements in environmental quality continues to challenge economists. We review welfare measures associated with reduced wildfire smoke exposure, and a unique dataset from California’s Station Fire of 2009 allows for a...

This article investigates the value of reducing non-point-source pollution in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Using stated preference methods, we find the lower bound on the benefits of reducing runoff enough to universally increase water clarity by 4 ft is greater than $10 million annually. Using a...