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Behavioral Response to Plastic Bag Legislation in Botswana

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  • Dikgang, Johane
  • Visser, Martine

Abstract

This paper investigates the use of charges and standards in dealing with a common externality, plastic litter from shopping bags in Botswana. The country passed a plastic bag tax (effective 2007) to curb the plastic bag demand. Interestingly, the legislation did not force retailers to charge for plastic bags, which they did voluntarily at different prices. We assessed the environmental effectiveness and efficiency of the plastic bag legislation by analyzing consumers’ sensitivity to the improvement of the plastic bag and related price charges. The introduction of the plastic bag levy led to a significant decline in the consumption of plastic bags per 1,000 Botswana pulas of shopping. The partial success of the Botswana levy was due to the constantly high prices of the bags.

Suggested Citation

  • Dikgang, Johane & Visser, Martine, 2010. "Behavioral Response to Plastic Bag Legislation in Botswana," RFF Working Paper Series dp-10-13-efd, Resources for the Future.
    • Handle: RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-10-13-efd
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
    2. Baumol,William J. & Oates,Wallace E., 1988. "The Theory of Environmental Policy," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521322249, January.
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    4. Frank Convery & Simon McDonnell & Susana Ferreira, 2007. "The most popular tax in Europe? Lessons from the Irish plastic bags levy," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 38(1), pages 1-11, September.
    5. Dikgang, Johane & Leiman, Anthony & Visser, Martine, 2012. "Analysis of the plastic-bag levy in South Africa," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 59-65.
    6. Reviva Hasson & Anthony Leiman & Martine Visser, 2007. "The Economics Of Plastic Bag Legislation In South Africa1," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 75(1), pages 66-83, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. The impact of taxing plastic bags
      by Economic Logician in Economic Logic on 2010-07-16 19:46:00

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    Cited by:

    1. Jingze Jiang, 2016. "Peer Pressure in Voluntary Environmental Programs: a Case of the Bag Rewards Program," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 155-190, June.
    2. Richard J. Kish, 2018. "Using Legislation To Reduce One†Time Plastic Bag Usage," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(2), pages 224-239, June.
    3. Doris Knoblauch & Linda Mederake & Ulf Stein, 2018. "Developing Countries in the Lead—What Drives the Diffusion of Plastic Bag Policies?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-24, June.
    4. Okto Irianto & Kosuke Mizuno & Safri Burhanuddin & Ninasapti Triaswati, 2022. "Formulating an Excise Duty on Plastic: A Strategy to Manage Marine Plastic Waste in Indonesia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-16, December.
    5. Rajendra Kumar Foolmaun & Dinkar Sharma Chamilall & Girish Munhurrun & Anand Sookun, 2021. "Was Mauritius really successful in banning plastic carry bags, after promulgation of the regulation prohibiting plastic bags usage?," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(8), pages 11660-11676, August.
    6. Thornton Matheson, 2022. "Disposal is not free: fiscal instruments to internalize the environmental costs of solid waste," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 29(4), pages 1047-1073, August.
    7. Irina Zen & Rahmalan Ahamad & Wahid Omar, 2013. "No plastic bag campaign day in Malaysia and the policy implication," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 15(5), pages 1259-1269, October.
    8. Ms. Thornton Matheson, 2019. "Disposal is Not Free: Fiscal Instruments to Internalize the Environmental Costs of Solid Waste," IMF Working Papers 2019/283, International Monetary Fund.
    9. Tobias D. Nielsen & Jacob Hasselbalch & Karl Holmberg & Johannes Stripple, 2020. "Politics and the plastic crisis: A review throughout the plastic life cycle," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(1), January.
    10. Isaac Omondi & Misuzu Asari, 2023. "Impact of Policy Design on Plastic Waste Reduction in Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-16, December.
    11. Dikgang, Johane & Leiman, Anthony & Visser, Martine, 2012. "Analysis of the plastic-bag levy in South Africa," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 59-65.
    12. Kornhauser, Lewis & Lu, Yijia & Tontrup, Stephan, 2020. "Testing a fine is a price in the lab," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    13. Yong Li & Bairong Wang & Yunyu Li, 2023. "The Influence of the Big Five Personality Traits on Residents’ Plastic Reduction Attitudes in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(10), pages 1-12, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    demand; environment; litter; plastic bags; price;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • 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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