Equity and Selective Pollution Abatement Procedures

This paper centers on issues of equity which are related to least cost air pollution abatement strategies. Motivation is provided by a hypothetical example based on Knox County, Tennessee data. In this example substantial loss in economic efficiency occurs when all polluters are required to reduce emissions by the same rate, which is a popular kind of equity notion termed a “benchmark” solution. This notion of equity is shown to be equivalent to another which is related to the requirement that each polluter reduce by the proportion that he contributes to total controllable pollutant concentration at points in the region. A new air quality management strategy is suggested which is based on the requirement that polluters who choose to act independently of others must reduce emissions according to the benchmark solution. This strategy provides economic motivation for coalition formation.

• 저널Management Science · 23(4) · 361–370
• 토픽Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth · Economics and Econometrics
• DOI10.1287/mnsc.23.4.361
• 저자Robert F. Carbone, James R. Sweigart