In China, environmental regulators play by the rules, but often bend them in ways that reflect important environmental and social concerns. Regulators give little or no slack to heavy dischargers. Old factories pay more, state-owned factories pay higher rates, and big employers get a...

Research on the determinants of collective action in the commons generally focuses on interest-group heterogeneity, implicitly assuming that groups perceive the same problems but have different priorities. This paper changes the focus to the role played by perceptions themselves. Within...