When formal regulation is weak or absent, communities often use other channels to induce pollution abatement by local factories in a process of 'informal regulation.' The resulting 'pollution equilibrium' reflects the relative bargaining power of the community and the plant. This note uses...

By the late 1990s, the technical and financial performance of the power sector in India had deteriorated to the point where the Government of India had to step in to bail out the state utilities, almost all of which were vertically integrated state electricity boards (SEBs). Considering that the...