日時: 2018年1月16日(火) 16:30〜18:30
場所: 3F1115
言語: 英語
講演者:Corbett Grainger氏(ウィスコンシン大学准教授)
演題: Do Regulators Strategically Avoid Pollution Hotspots when Siting
Monitors? Evidence from Remote Sensing of Air Pollution
要旨:
Ambient air pollution is tracked through a
network of in situ monitors, and these data are used extensively in
regulatory settings, research, and in calculating air quality indices to
protect human health. Although the locations are typically treated as
exogenous by researchers, we argue that there may be incentives for the
local regulator to avoid siting monitors near pollution hotspots. In the
United States, the design and maintenance of monitoring networks is
delegated to state or sub-state agencies. A state's monitors then
determine compliance with federal National Ambient Air Quality Standards
(NAAQS). We develop an analytical model to study the local regulator's
incentives in this federalist arrangement. For marginal counties (i.e.
those still designated as attainment, but potentially ``close'' to the
NAAQS threshold), the regulator has an incentive to avoid siting new
pollution monitors near pollution hotspots. On the other hand, for
counties already in nonattainment, the local regulator's ability to
avoid pollution may be diminished due to increased federal scrutiny. To
test for strategic behavior in monitor siting, we employ monitoring data
and satellite-derived pollution estimates to characterize pollution at
non-monitored locations. We find that, on average, local regulators in
marginal counties avoid pollution relative to nonattainment counties;
moreover, this result is especially pronounced for monitors specifically
designated to target areas of high pollution concentrations. Our results
suggest that monitoring data in marginal counties may systematically
understate pollution, and the resulting regulatory targeting may be less
efficient than previously believed.
講演者に関して:Grainger氏は、現在ウィスコンシン大学の応用経済学部の准教授で、環境経済学と実証・応用ミクロ経済学がご専門です。UCSB
Econ PhD(2010)でCharles Kolstad教授(現スタンフォード大)が指導教官です。Journal of
Public Economics, Journal of Law & Econnomics, Journal of Env. Econ.
Mgmt, Journal of Assoc. of Env. Res. Econ.などトップフィールドのPublicationを持っているだけでなく、World
Bankや国内外の政府のコンサル事業を受託しています。