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Do EPA Regulations Affect Labor Demand? Evidence from the Pulp and Paper Industry

Author

Listed:
  • Ronald J. Shadbegian
  • Wayne B. Gray
  • Chumbei Wang
  • Merve Cebi

Abstract

Many believe that environmental regulation must reduce employment, since regulations are expected to increase production costs, raising prices and reducing demand for output. A careful microeconomic analysis shows that this not guaranteed. Even if environmental regulation reduces output in the regulated industry, abating pollution could require additional labor (e.g. to monitor the abatement capital and meet EPA reporting requirements). Pollution abatement technologies could also be labor enhancing. In this paper we analyze how a particular EPA regulation, the “Cluster Rule” (CR) imposed on the pulp and paper industry in 2001, affected employment in that sector. Using establishment level data from the Census of Manufacturers and Annual Survey of Manufacturers at the U.S. Census Bureau from 1992-2007 we find evidence of small employment declines (on the order of 3%-7%), sometimes statistically significant, at a subset of the plants covered by the CR.

Suggested Citation

  • Ronald J. Shadbegian & Wayne B. Gray & Chumbei Wang & Merve Cebi, 2013. "Do EPA Regulations Affect Labor Demand? Evidence from the Pulp and Paper Industry," NCEE Working Paper Series 201303, National Center for Environmental Economics, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, revised Aug 2013.
    • Handle: RePEc:nev:wpaper:wp201303
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Cluster Rule; regulatory costs; multimedia regulation; employment effects;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q52 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Pollution Control Adoption and Costs; Distributional Effects; Employment Effects
    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

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