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Inequities in enforcement? Environmental justice and government performance

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  • David M. Konisky

    (Harry S Truman School of Public Affairs, University of Missouri)

Abstract

This paper examines whether state governments perform systematically less environmental enforcement of facilities in communities with higher minority and low-income populations. Although this is an important claim made by environmental justice advocates, it has received little attention in the scholarly literature. Specifically, I analyze state regulatory enforcement of three U.S. pollution control laws-the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act-over the period 1985-2000. To test for disparities in enforcement, I estimate a series of count models and find strong evidence across each of the three environmental laws that states perform less enforcement in poor counties, but little evidence of race-based inequities. © 2009 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.

Suggested Citation

  • David M. Konisky, 2009. "Inequities in enforcement? Environmental justice and government performance," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(1), pages 102-121.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:jpamgt:v:28:y:2009:i:1:p:102-121
    DOI: 10.1002/pam.20404
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    Cited by:

    1. Jonathan Colmer & Mary F. Evans & Jay Shimshack, 2023. "Environmental citizen complaints," CEP Discussion Papers dp1903, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    2. Xueli Wang & Caizhi Sun & Song Wang & Zhixiong Zhang & Wei Zou, 2018. "Going Green or Going Away? A Spatial Empirical Examination of the Relationship between Environmental Regulations, Biased Technological Progress, and Green Total Factor Productivity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-23, September.
    3. Lou, Jiehong & Shen, Xingchi & Niemeier, Deb, 2020. "Are stay-at-home orders more difficult to follow for low-income groups?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    4. Tyler Andrew Scott & Nicola Ulibarri & Omar Perez Figueroa, 2020. "NEPA and National Trends in Federal Infrastructure Siting in the United States," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 37(5), pages 605-633, September.
    5. Balietti, Anca & Zeising, Tom, 2024. "Racial Disparities in Environmental Auditing," Working Papers 0745, University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics.
    6. Min-Dong Paul Lee & Michael Lounsbury, 2015. "Filtering Institutional Logics: Community Logic Variation and Differential Responses to the Institutional Complexity of Toxic Waste," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(3), pages 847-866, June.
    7. Chakraborti, Lopamudra & Shimshack, Jay P., 2022. "Environmental disparities in urban Mexico: Evidence from toxic water pollution," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    8. Peter Maniloff, 2016. "Bayesian Learning and Regulatory Deterrence: Evidence from Oil and Gas Production," Working Papers 2016-04, Colorado School of Mines, Division of Economics and Business.
    9. Jianhuan Huang & Jiejin Xia, 2016. "Regional Competition, Heterogeneous Factors and Pollution Intensity in China: A Spatial Econometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-26, February.
    10. Shalini Iyengar & Nives Dolšak & Aseem Prakash, 2019. "Selectively Assertive: Interventions of India’s Supreme Court to Enforce Environmental Laws," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-18, December.
    11. Pamela Campa & Lucija Muehlenbachs, 2024. "Addressing Environmental Justice through In-Kind Court Settlements," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 16(1), pages 415-446, February.
    12. Wibbenmeyer, Matthew & Anderson, Sarah & Plantinga, Andrew J., 2020. "Inequality in Agency Responsiveness: Evidence from Salient Wildfire Events," RFF Working Paper Series 20-22, Resources for the Future.
    13. Francesca Spina, 2015. "Environmental Justice and Patterns of State Inspections," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 96(2), pages 417-429, June.
    14. David M. Konisky & Tyler S. Schario, 2010. "Examining Environmental Justice in Facility‐Level Regulatory Enforcement," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 91(3), pages 835-855, September.
    15. Carpenter, Angela & Wagner, Marcus, 2019. "Environmental justice in the oil refinery industry: A panel analysis across United States counties," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 101-109.
    16. Sarah E. Anderson & Andrew J. Plantinga & Matthew Wibbenmeyer, 2022. "Unequal Treatments: Federal Wildfire Fuels Projects and Socioeconomic Status of Nearby Communities," NBER Chapters, in: Environmental and Energy Policy and the Economy, volume 4, pages 177-201, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Nur Syuhada Jasni & Siti Nurhazwani Kamarudin, 2024. "Trends and Insights in Sustainability Accounting in the Public Sector: Unveiling the Research Landscape," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 14(4), pages 163-171, July.

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