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On the Economics and the Politics of Environmental Protection
Author(s) -
Mantell Edmund H.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
american journal of economics and sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.199
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1536-7150
pISSN - 0002-9246
DOI - 10.1111/j.1536-7150.1985.tb02374.x
Subject(s) - subsidy , enforcement , politics , redistribution (election) , public economics , economics , redistribution of income and wealth , distribution (mathematics) , law and economics , political science , business , law , macroeconomics , mathematical analysis , mathematics , unemployment
A bstract . TWO loci of discussion respecting national policies for environmental protection are synthesized. Most economic discussions are couched in terms of analytical measurements of the social benefits and costs of different policies. But most political science discussions are couched in terms of the procedural obstacles to implementation erected by special interest groups. The standard tool of marginal cost/benefit analysis is applied to reveal how the redistribution of real income among distinct special interest groups determines the extent to which those groups align themselves politically. Many of the apparent conflicts among policy objectives in the area of environmental protection, full employment , and an acceptable distribution of income , can be mitigated by means of a carefully designed program of selective law enforcement and tax‐financed subsidies.