Abstract
Now, decades after the first environmental laws were passed in this country, policymakers face many choices when seeking to solve environmental problems. Will taxing polluters for their discharges be more effective than fining them for not meeting certain emission standards? Will a regulatory agency find it less costly to enforce a ban or oversee a system of tradable permits? Which strategy will reduce a pollutant the quickest?
A version of this chapter first appeared in the Fall/Winter 2004 issue of Resources, published quarterly by Resources for the Future, www.rff.org. Reproduced with permission.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Additional Readings
Burtraw, Dallas. (1996). The SO2 emission trading program: Cost savings without allowance trades. Contemporary Economic Policy, 14 (April), 79–94.
Davies, J.C. and Mazurek, J. (1998). Pollution Control in the United States. Resources for the Future: Washington, DC.
Harrington, Winston, Morgenstern, Richard D. and Nelson, P. (2000). On the accuracy of regulatory cost estimates. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 19(2), 297–322.
Harrington, Winston, Morgenstern, Richard, D. and Sterner, Thomas. (Eds.). (2004). Choosing Environmental Policy Comparing Instruments and Outcomes in the United States and Europe. Resources for the Future: Washington, DC.
Hahn, Robert and Hester, G. (1989). Where did all the markets go? An analysis of EPA’s emissions trading program. Yale Journal of Regulation, 6(1), 109–153.
Sterner, Thomas. (2002). Policy Instruments for Environmental and Natural Resource Policy Instruments. Resources for the Future: Washington, DC.
Tietenberg, Thomas H. (2006). Emissions Trading: An Exercise in Reforming Pollution Policy. Resources for the Future: Washington, DC.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). (2001). The United States Experience with Economic Incentives for Protecting the Environment. EPA: Washington, DC.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Harrington, W., Morgenstern, R.D. (2007). Economic Incentives Versus Command and Control: What’s the Best Approach for Solving Environmental Problems?. In: Visgilio, G.R., Whitelaw, D.M. (eds) Acid in the Environment. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-37562-5_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-37562-5_12
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-37561-8
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-37562-5
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)