This paper tests whether laws that encourage bottle recycling and also increase the labor incomes of low-wage workers have the additional effect of reducing petty crime rates. A simple choice theory model of crime participation and labor supply suggests that low-wage workers may substitute time...

This paper tests whether laws that encourage bottle recycling and also increase the labor incomes of low-wage workers have the additional effect of reducing petty crime rates. A simple choice theory model of crime participation and labor supply suggests that low-wage workers may substitute time...

While there are many descriptive articles about cash recyclers this is the first empirical study of people recycling for cash. A new survey shows that cash recycling is an important part of the income of the working poor and that an astonishing twenty percent of the income of professional...

Eleven US states have "bottle laws," deposit-refund programs that combine a consumption tax with a recycling rebate. When states set the bottle deposit low enough it becomes a tax on high wage earners, for whom the opportunity cost of their time prevents them from returning containers for their...

Eleven U.S. states have enacted “bottle laws” and they are one of the few examples of a policy that takes advantage of the price system to ameliorate environmental damage. A deposit-refund program on beverage containers is a consumption tax combined with a disposal rebate that is the...