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Spatial Regulation of Air Toxics Hot Spots
Author(s) -
Turaga Rama Mohana R.,
Noonan Douglas,
Bostrom Ann
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of policy analysis and management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.898
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1520-6688
pISSN - 0276-8739
DOI - 10.1002/pam.21820
Subject(s) - distribution (mathematics) , social cost , population , environmental economics , business , natural resource economics , economics , microeconomics , mathematical analysis , demography , mathematics , sociology
This paper analyzes the potential implications, in terms of net social costs and distribution of risks and abatement costs, of a policy to address the problem of air toxics “hot spots.” The policy we analyze involves regulation of air toxics sources at increasingly finer spatial resolutions. We develop a model of a decisionmaker choosing emission standards within a net cost minimization framework. Empirical application of the model to two counties in Florida demonstrates that regulation at finer resolutions could involve trade‐offs between net social costs and equitable distribution of risks and, in some settings, between individual and population risks.