The Existence and Uniqueness of Optimal Pollution Policy in the Presence of Victim Defense Measures.

It is to be expected that rational peole defend themselves against pollution externalities, at the very least through spatial separation from the source. Bu even in the simplist models, defensive generates nonconvexities, multiple optima, and inconclusive policy guidance. This calls into question the theory of environmental policy, yet the problem has been largely ignored. This paper derives a sufficient condition for a uniquely optimal emissions level in the presence of defensive activity.