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Chapter 12: Problem 18

What is command-and-control environmental regulation?

Short Answer

Expert verified
Command-and-control environmental regulation is a system where the government sets specific rules, standards, and limits on businesses and industries to prevent or reduce pollution and achieve environmental sustainability. Advantages include clear-cut rules and a uniform playing field, while disadvantages include less flexibility and potential difficulties in innovation. Examples of command-and-control regulations include the Clean Air Act in the United States and the European Union's Industrial Emissions Directive.

Step by step solution

01

Definition of Command-and-Control Environmental Regulation

Command-and-control environmental regulation refers to a system where the government sets specific rules, standards, and limits on businesses and industries with the aim of preventing or reducing pollution and achieve environmental sustainability. The government also enforces these rules and applies penalties if businesses fail to comply with the standards.
02

Advantages of Command-and-Control Environmental Regulation

The advantages of command-and-control environmental regulation include providing clear-cut rules for businesses, ensuring a uniform playing field for all businesses, and simplifying the enforcement process for regulators. This system helps to reduce pollution and protect the environment by setting specific levels of emissions that businesses are allowed to produce or limiting the use of harmful pollutants.
03

Disadvantages of Command-and-Control Environmental Regulation

On the other hand, command-and-control environmental regulation can be less flexible and adaptable than other regulatory approaches, such as market-based systems. Industries and businesses may find it difficult to innovate and identify more environmentally friendly practices due to the strict adherence to set rules. Additionally, sometimes the implementation and enforcement process can be costly and slow-paced, affecting both businesses and the government.
04

Examples of Command-and-Control Environmental Regulation

Some examples of command-and-control environmental regulation include the Clean Air Act in the United States, which sets limits on air pollutants emitted by industries and specifies the technology that businesses must use to achieve those limits. Another example is the European Union's Industrial Emissions Directive, which imposes emission limits on various industrial sectors and requires the application of best available techniques to reduce emissions. These regulatory systems aim to protect the environment and public health by imposing standards and demanding compliance from businesses.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

As the extent of environmental protection expands, would you expect marginal costs of environmental protection to rise or fall? Why or why not?

What is an externality?

In the Land of Purity, there is only one form of pollution, called "gunk." Table 12.14 shows possible combinations of economic output and reduction of gunk, depending on what kinds of environmental regulations are chosen. $$ \begin{array}{l|l|l} \hline {\text { Combos }} & \text { Eco Output } & \text { Gunk Cleaned Up } \\\ \hline \mathrm{J} & 800 & 10 \% \\ \hline \mathrm{K} & 500 & 30 \% \\ \hline \mathrm{L} & 600 & 40 \% \\ \hline \mathrm{M} & 400 & 40 \% \\ \hline \mathrm{N} & 100 & 90 \% \\ \hline \end{array} $$ a. Sketch a graph of a production possibility frontier with environmental quality on the horizontal axis, measured by the percentage reduction of gunk, and with the quantity of economic output on the vertical axis. b. Which choices display productive efficiency? How can you tell? c. Which choices show allocative efficiency? How can you tell? d. In the choice between \(\mathrm{K}\) and \(\mathrm{L}\), can you say which one is better and why? e. In the choice between \(\mathrm{K}\) and \(\mathrm{N}\), can you say which one is better, and why? f. If you had to guess, which choice would you think is more likely to represent a command-andcontrol environmental policy and which choice is more likely to represent a market-oriented environmental policy, choice \(\mathrm{L}\) or \(\mathrm{M}\) ? Why?

In a market without environmental regulations, will the supply curve for a firm account for private costs, external costs, both, or neither? Explain.

Identify the following situations as an example of a negative or a positive externality: a. You are a birder (bird watcher), and your neighbor has put up several birdhouses in the yard as well as planting trees and flowers that attract birds. b. Your neighbor paints his house a hideous color. c. Investments in private education raise your country's standard of living. d. Trash dumped upstream flows downstream right past your home. e. Your roommate is a smoker, but you are a nonsmoker.
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