Policing the poor: The impact of vehicle emissions inspection programs across income

摘要

Comparing vehicle emissions inspection results with vehicle owner income shows that the Arizona vehicle emissions inspection program constrains the vehicle repair decisions of people in the low end of the income distribution more than people in the high end. Individuals who live in areas with lower annual income are both (i) more likely to drive vehicles that fail emissions inspections at a higher average rate, and (ii) more likely to fail emissions inspections conditional on vehicle characteristics. The top income quintile fails emissions inspections 20% less often than the bottom income quintile even when controlling for observable vehicle characteristics. This implies that owner characteristics, in addition to observable vehicle characteristics, have a non-negligible impact on vehicle emissions rates. Therefore, the impact of programs designed to reduce vehicle emissions could be greater if participation were subject to a means test.