The Relative Efficiency of Voluntary vs Mandatory Environmetal Regulations

摘要

Increased use of voluntary programs for environental protection as an alternative to mandatory approaches raises the issue of the relative efficiency of the two approaches. This paper analyzes the efficiency of voluntary programs relative to mandatory programs in agriculture. Under the voluntary program producers adopt a land conservation practice and, in turn, the government provides technical and financial assistance. The voluntary program is more efficient than a proram that mandates adoption if and only if the deadweight losses of government expenditurs under the voluntary program are less than the difference between private and public costs of governament serives plus the additional implementation costs of the mandatory program.