Oligarchy

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Smoggy with a Chance of Altruism: Using Air Quality Forecasts to Drive Behavioral Change

From AEI and The Heritage Foundation:

Natural Resources, Energy, Environment, & Science

Smoggy with a Chance of Altruism: Using Air Quality Forecasts to Drive Behavioral Change

by Douglas Noonan

American Enterprise Institute

December 20, 2011

Working Paper Series

Recent years have seen a rise in information-based environmental policies. This report focuses on a type of voluntary, information-based environmental policy – air quality alerts – by summarizing the recent research and contributing new findings. The results are mixed, with only weak evidence that driving time is reduced following forecasts and no discernible impact on outdoor recreation nationwide. The conclusion distills the evidence into a few takeaway messages: (1) some people are responsive to forecasts, (2) forecasts do not alter behavior universally, and (3) some of these behavioral impacts may not be as intended.

URL: www.aei.org/files/2011/12/14/-smoggy-with-a-chance-of-altruism-using-air-quality-forecasts-to-drive-behavioral-change_140952566926.pdf

How the Clean Air Act “Hits Home” Through the I&M Program

From AEI and The Heritage Foundation:

Natural Resources, Energy, Environment, & Science

How the Clean Air Act “Hits Home” Through the I&M Program

by Douglas Noonan

American Enterprise Institute

December 20, 2011

Atlanta’s Inspection & Maintenance program effectively screens dirtier vehicles out of the fleet. It must be noted, however, that failure rates are sufficiently low for the bulk of the tested fleet that the vast majority of tests accomplish little and the reliance on diagnostic computers (rather than actual tailpipe emissions) is problematic as vehicles age – precisely when better screening is most important. Households tend to “shop” for inspection stations to minimize their costs – thus picking stations nearby their homes and those that are more lenient. The program imposes a burden on those who own dirty cars, and those cars are clearly owned by poorer households.

URL: www.aei.org/files/2011/12/14/-how-the-clean-air-act-hits-home-the-im-program_140927732751.pdf

How Much Do We Care about the Air? Evidence on the Value of Air Quality Improvements

From AEI and The Heritage Foundation:

Natural Resources, Energy, Environment, & Science

How Much Do We Care about the Air? Evidence on the Value of Air Quality Improvements

by Douglas Noonan

American Enterprise Institute

December 20, 2011

This report attempts to explain the variation in air quality values and disentangle the methodological factors from the policy-relevant contextual ones. A meta-analysis is conducted in order to test those hypotheses. After collecting and coding over 50 empirical studies of air quality benefits, the benefits estimates are normalized and converted to a common metric for benefits of or willingness-to-pay (WTP) for air quality improvements. Enormous variation in normalized WTP is observed in the literature. Some of the results are expected, such as diminishing returns to further improvements. Other results are less expected, such as the higher values associated with peer-reviewed studies. The relationship between benefit estimates and income is less straightforward, with benefits rising in income for wealthy nations but declining in income for developing countries. These results have useful lessons for those designing air quality policy informed by how much the public benefits from improvements.

URL: www.aei.org/files/2011/12/14/-how-much-do-we-care-about-the-air-evidence-on-the-value-of-air-quality-improvements_14101680650.pdf

The Economics of Network Neutrality

From The CATO Institution:

Information Technology

The Economics of Network Neutrality

by Gerald R. Faulhaber

Cato Institute

December 20, 2011

Regulation

The economic evidence does not support prophylactic net neutrality regulation. In the absence of significant evidence of “bad behavior” by broadband ISPs over the past decade, the extensive literature is unable to support such regulation. Even articles specifically arguing for net neutrality regulation cannot make an unambiguous case for regulation, as this review demonstrates. I again rely on Owen to state it best: “Thus, it is reasonable to conclude that prophylactic regulation is not necessary, and may well reduce welfare. Sound policy is to wait for ex post evidence of harm to justify interventions in specific cases.”

URL: www.cato.org/pubs/regulation/regv34n4/v34n4-4.pdf