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Economic Incentives and Residential Waste Management in Taiwan: An Empirical Investigation

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  • Hai-Lan Yang
  • Robert Innes

Abstract

This paper presents an empirical study of how three waste management policies have affected residential waste generation and recycling behavior in Taiwan over the past decade. The three policies are unit-pricing of garbage in Taipei, a mandatory recycling program in Kaohsiung, and a nationwide policy of charging for plastic bags. We estimate policy effects on total waste, total recycling, and recycling of four specific materials, all measured by weight per capita. Unlike prior work, we find that unit-pricing and mandatory recycling policies lead to significant increases in recycling of most materials, as well as increased levels of total recycling and garbage reduction. The “plastic bag” policy is generally found to lower material-specific and total recycling rates, as well as total garbage volumes. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2007

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  • Hai-Lan Yang & Robert Innes, 2007. "Economic Incentives and Residential Waste Management in Taiwan: An Empirical Investigation," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 37(3), pages 489-519, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:enreec:v:37:y:2007:i:3:p:489-519
    DOI: 10.1007/s10640-006-9040-0
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    Cited by:

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    2. Abbott, Andrew & Nandeibam, Shasikanta & O'Shea, Lucy, 2013. "Recycling: Social norms and warm-glow revisited," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 10-18.
    3. Florian Fizaine, 2019. "The Economics of Recycling Rate: new insights from a Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment," Policy Papers 2019.01, FAERE - French Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.
    4. Carattini, Stefano & Baranzini, Andrea & Lalive, Rafael, 2018. "Is Taxing Waste a Waste of Time? Evidence from a Supreme Court Decision," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 131-151.
    5. Acuff, Kaylee & Kaffine, Daniel T., 2013. "Greenhouse gas emissions, waste and recycling policy," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 74-86.
    6. Picchio, Matteo, 2021. "Microchip Bags and Waste Sorting," GLO Discussion Paper Series 772, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    7. Bernardino Benito & José Solana & María-Rocío Moreno, 2014. "Explaining efficiency in municipal services providers," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 225-239, December.
    8. Mazzanti, Massimiliano & Zoboli, Roberto, 2008. "Waste Generation, Incineration and Landfill Diversion. De-coupling Trends, Socio-Economic Drivers and Policy Effectiveness in the EU," Sustainability Indicators and Environmental Valuation Working Papers 46651, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    9. Abbott, Andrew & Nandeibam, Shasikanta & O'Shea, Lucy, 2011. "Explaining the variation in household recycling rates across the UK," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(11), pages 2214-2223, September.
    10. Fizaine, Florian, 2020. "The economics of recycling rate: New insights from waste electrical and electronic equipment," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    11. Elbert Dijkgraaf & Raymond Gradus, 2015. "Efficiency Effects of Unit-Based Pricing Systems and Institutional Choices of Waste Collection," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 61(4), pages 641-658, August.
    12. Carlo Reggiani & Francesco Silvestri, 2018. "Municipal Solid Waste, Market Competition and the EU Policy," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 71(2), pages 457-474, October.
    13. Amanda M. Y. Chu, 2021. "Illegal Waste Dumping under a Municipal Solid Waste Charging Scheme: Application of the Neutralization Theory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-10, August.
    14. Chi-Bin Cheng & Hsu-Shih Shih & Boris Chen, 2017. "Subsidy rate decisions for the printer recycling industry by bi-level optimization techniques," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 901-919, October.
    15. Bucciol, Alessandro & Montinari, Natalia & Piovesan, Marco, 2019. "It Wasn't Me! Visibility and Free Riding in Waste Disposal," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 394-401.
    16. W. Kip Viscusi & Joel Huber & Jason Bell & Caroline Cecot, 2013. "Discontinuous Behavioral Responses to Recycling Laws and Plastic Water Bottle Deposits," American Law and Economics Review, American Law and Economics Association, vol. 15(1), pages 110-155.
    17. Houévoh Amandine R. Gnonlonfin, 2016. "An evaluation of French municipal solid waste pricing system," Working Papers 2016.18, FAERE - French Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.
    18. Lakhan, Calvin, 2014. "Exploring the relationship between municipal promotion and education investments and recycling rate performance in Ontario, Canada," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 222-229.
    19. Saphores, Jean-Daniel M. & Nixon, Hilary, 2014. "How effective are current household recycling policies? Results from a national survey of U.S. households," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 1-10.
    20. Raymond (R.H.J.M.) Gradus & Elbert (E.) Dijkgraaf, 2017. "Dutch Municipalities are Becoming Greener: Some Political and Institutional Explanations," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 17-086/VIII, Tinbergen Institute.
    21. Matteo Picchio, 2023. "Microchipped bags and waste sorting," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 25(1), pages 1-30, January.
    22. Pollans, Lily Baum & Krones, Jonathan S. & Ben-Joseph, Eran, 2017. "Patterns in municipal food scrap programming in mid-sized U.S. cities," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 308-314.
    23. Aiqin Wang & Linxiu Zhang & Yaojiang Shi & Scott Rozelle & Annie Osborn & Meredith Yang, 2017. "Rural Solid Waste Management in China: Status, Problems and Challenges," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-18, March.
    24. Lakhan, Calvin, 2016. "The relationship between municipal waste diversion incentivization and recycling system performance," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 68-77.

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