The Porter Hypothesis argues that environmental regulations benefit firms by fostering innovation. We discuss four examples consistent with this idea, highlighting either the distribution of benefits or costs, or the presence of some additional distortion, other than pollution. Examples are...

The 1990 Clean Air ActAmendments (CAAA) introduced tradable permits for controlling sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions from coal-burning power plants and forced scrubbers to compete with other SO2 abatement options. While the flexibility of permits reduced overall compliance costs, a secondary...

We investigate the effectiveness of voluntary pollution prevention activities in reducing toxic releases from facilities that reported to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Toxics Release Inventory from 1991–2001, using generalized method of moments dynamic panel data models that...

Anaerobic digestion technology addresses environmental issues of waste disposal and greenhouse gas emission reduction. This paper examines attitudes toward adoption of this conservation technology on dairy farms. To specify an appropriate dependent variable without a large number of adopters, an...

What happens when an environmental NGO (ENGO) becomes involved in fisheries management, and its involvement is recognized by the managing authorities? The answer depends on the preferences and the measures of the ENGO. We use a bioeconomic objective function where fishers and regulator have...

Individual transferable quotas (ITQs) induce changes along both the extensive margin—via consolidation of quota among fewer vessels—and the intensive margin, as harvesters adjust their behavior to ITQ incentives. We use ITQ introduction in the Bering Sea crab fishery to decompose the sources...

Available estimates of the land use changes and greenhouse gas emissions of biofuels differ significantly across economic models. This paper focuses on the impacts of price-induced yield assumptions on U.S. corn ethanol results. These assumptions have dramatic impacts within the FAPRI modeling...

A model for the recovery of an endangered species is developed and applied to the red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis), a species once abundant in the southeastern United States. There is a finite set of recovery actions that might be implemented in each period, with the goal of reaching...

Does community management improve the condition of local natural resources? Do interventions by official agencies enhance the functions of voluntary communal management? With 101 randomly sampled natural forests in the Middle Hills of Nepal, we address these questions. Forest condition was...

This paper deals with the time consistency problem associated with buyback schemes, arising from the fact that the schemes may be anticipated by vessel owners. After reviewing and elaborating upon the key results of our recently published article on buybacks and limited-entry programs, we...