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The Effect of Environmental Regulation on Power Sector Employment: Phase I of the Title IV SO2 Trading Program

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  • Ann E. Ferris
  • Ronald J. Shadbegian
  • Ann Wolverton

Abstract

We use panel data on fossil fuel fired power plants to examine the impact of Phase I of the Title IV SO2 trading program on electric utility employment. We find little evidence that power plants had significant decreases in employment during Phase I relative to non-Phase I power plants. This finding holds whether we assume a plant- or utility-level decision model of compliance. When we disaggregate by year, we find that employment is significantly lower only in Phase I plants relative to non-Phase I plants in the first year of compliance but not in subsequent years. However, even this effect is not statistically significant at the utility level. Furthermore, we find little evidence of a significant employment effect for subsets of plants or utilities that pursue particular compliance strategies. Controlling for an NOx rate-based standard that partially overlaps with the SO2 trading program does not change our findings.

Suggested Citation

  • Ann E. Ferris & Ronald J. Shadbegian & Ann Wolverton, 2014. "The Effect of Environmental Regulation on Power Sector Employment: Phase I of the Title IV SO2 Trading Program," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 1(4), pages 521-553.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jaerec:doi:10.1086/679301
    DOI: 10.1086/679301
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    7. Jiamin Liu & Xiaoyu Ma & Bin Zhao & Qi Cui & Sisi Zhang & Jiaoning Zhang, 2023. "Mandatory Environmental Regulation, Enterprise Labor Demand and Green Innovation Transformation: A Quasi-Experiment from China’s New Environmental Protection Law," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-31, July.
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