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Regulation with Budget Constraints Can Dominate Regulation by Price and by Quantity

Author

Listed:
  • Linda Cohen

    (Department of Economics, University of California-Irvine)

  • Amihai Glazer

    (Department of Economics, University of California-Irvine)

Abstract

A government can use several mechanisms to induce firms to reduce pollution. Well studied are regulations by price and by quantity. We consider a third form of regulation -- government allocates a budget to an agency which subsidizes abatement. We demonstrate that uncertainty can make such constrained regulation more efficient than either regulation by quantity or regulation by price. We also show that the optimal budget declines with a mean-preserving spread in the distribution of marginal costs.

Suggested Citation

  • Linda Cohen & Amihai Glazer, 2008. "Regulation with Budget Constraints Can Dominate Regulation by Price and by Quantity," Working Papers 080903, University of California-Irvine, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:irv:wpaper:080903
    as

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    File URL: https://www.economics.uci.edu/files/docs/workingpapers/2008-09/cohen-03.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Louis Kaplow & Steven Shavell, 2002. "On the Superiority of Corrective Taxes to Quantity Regulation," American Law and Economics Review, American Law and Economics Association, vol. 4(1), pages 1-17, January.
    2. Cameron Hepburn, 2006. "Regulation by Prices, Quantities, or Both: A Review of Instrument Choice," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 22(2), pages 226-247, Summer.
    3. Pizer, William A., 2002. "Combining price and quantity controls to mitigate global climate change," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(3), pages 409-434, September.
    4. Finkelshtain, Israel & Kislev, Yoav, 1997. "Prices versus Quantities: The Political Perspective," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(1), pages 83-100, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Regulation; Environmental subsidy; Pollution control;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • Q52 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Pollution Control Adoption and Costs; Distributional Effects; Employment Effects

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