Nonregulatory Approaches to the Environment: Coasean and Pigouvian Perspectives

摘要

Environmental problems and natural resource conflicts persist despite decades of creative interventions to address them. Although early command-and-control regulations (e.g., the 1972 ban on DDT in the United States) have given way over time to incentive-based approaches (e.g., cap and trade under the 1990 US Clean Air Act Amendments), the appropriate role for these and other policy instruments remains a matter of debate. As new strategies for solving environmental problems are sought at all levels of governance, it is important for economists and policymakers to continue to examine and evaluate those environmental policy approaches that appear to be the most effective.