IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/soecon/v68y2002i4p922-934.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Policy Ineffectiveness or Offsetting Behavior? An Analysis of Vehicle Safety Inspections

Author

Listed:
  • Marc Poitras
  • Daniel Sutter

Abstract

Over 60 million registered motor vehicles in 20 states are subject to mandatory periodic safety inspection. The effect of safety inspection on roadway casualties has been estimated by several studies, with mixed results. We present a unique test of inspection effectiveness by analyzing the policy's impact on old cars in use and on repair industry revenue. Our results indicate that inspection has no significant impact on old cars or repair industry revenue, which implies that inspection does not improve the mechanical condition of vehicles. Unlike studies that examine casualties, our tests allow us to distinguish between policy ineffectiveness and Peltzman‐type offsetting behavior as sources of inspection failure.

Suggested Citation

  • Marc Poitras & Daniel Sutter, 2002. "Policy Ineffectiveness or Offsetting Behavior? An Analysis of Vehicle Safety Inspections," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 68(4), pages 922-934, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:soecon:v:68:y:2002:i:4:p:922-934
    DOI: 10.1002/j.2325-8012.2002.tb00466.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2325-8012.2002.tb00466.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/j.2325-8012.2002.tb00466.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Keeler, Theodore E, 1994. "Highway Safety, Economic Behavior, and Driving Environment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(3), pages 684-693, June.
    2. David Hemenway, 1989. "A failing grade for auto inspections-and motorists like it that way," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 8(2), pages 321-325.
    3. Thomas N. Hubbard, 1997. "Using Inspection And Maintenance Programs To Regulate Vehicle Emissions," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 15(2), pages 52-62, April.
    4. Nerlove, Marc, 1971. "Further Evidence on the Estimation of Dynamic Economic Relations from a Time Series of Cross Sections," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 39(2), pages 359-382, March.
    5. Saffer, Henry & Grossman, Michael, 1987. "Drinking Age Laws and Highway Mortality Rates: Cause and Effect," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 25(3), pages 403-417, July.
    6. Thomas N. Hubbard, 1998. "An Empirical Examination of Moral Hazard in the Vehicle Inspection Market," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 29(2), pages 406-426, Summer.
    7. Robert S. Chirinko & Edward P. Harper, 1993. "Buckle up or slow down? New estimates of offsetting behavior and their implications for automobile safety regulation," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 12(2), pages 270-296.
    8. Roy E. Welsch, 1980. "Regression Sensitivity Analysis and Bounded-Influence Estimation," NBER Chapters, in: Evaluation of Econometric Models, pages 153-167, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. MacKinnon, James G. & White, Halbert, 1985. "Some heteroskedasticity-consistent covariance matrix estimators with improved finite sample properties," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 305-325, September.
    10. Glazer, Amihai & Klein, Daniel B. & Lave, Charles, 1995. "Clean on Paper, Dirty on the Road: Troubles with California's Smog Check," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt5514s0hg, University of California Transportation Center.
    11. Peltzman, Sam, 1975. "The Effects of Automobile Safety Regulation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 83(4), pages 677-725, August.
    12. Anderson, T. W. & Hsiao, Cheng, 1982. "Formulation and estimation of dynamic models using panel data," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 47-82, January.
    13. David Merrell & Marc Poitras & Daniel Sutter, 1999. "The Effectiveness of Vehicle Safety Inspections: An Analysis Using Panel Data," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 65(3), pages 571-583, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Đorđe Vranješ & Bojan Marić & Tihomir Đurić & Goran Jovanov & Jovica Vasiljević & Nemanja Jovanov & Dunja Radović Stojčić, 2022. "Model for Sustainable Evaluation of the Impact of the Total Number of Centers for Technical Inspections of Motor Vehicles on the Occurrence and Consequences of Traffic Accidents in an Area," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-13, July.
    2. Luis Miguel Martín-delosReyes & Virginia Martínez-Ruiz & Mario Rivera-Izquierdo & José Pulido-Manzanero & Eladio Jiménez-Mejías & Pablo Lardelli-Claret, 2021. "Prevalence of and Factors Associated with Driving a Vehicle with Timed-Out Inspection Certificate in Spain," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-8, December.
    3. Juan Pablo Montero-Salgado & Jose Muñoz-Sanz & Blanca Arenas-Ramírez & Cristina Alén-Cordero, 2022. "Identification of the Mechanical Failure Factors with Potential Influencing Road Accidents in Ecuador," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-27, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kuniyoshi Saito, 2009. "Evaluating Automobile Inspection Policy Using Auto Insurance Data," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 27(2), pages 200-215, April.
    2. David Merrell & Marc Poitras & Daniel Sutter, 1999. "The Effectiveness of Vehicle Safety Inspections: An Analysis Using Panel Data," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 65(3), pages 571-583, January.
    3. Olof Johansson-Stenman & Peter Martinsson, 2005. "Anyone for higher speed limits? – Self-interested and adaptive political preferences," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 122(3), pages 319-331, March.
    4. Clifford Winston & Vikram Maheshri & Fred Mannering, 2006. "An exploration of the offset hypothesis using disaggregate data: The case of airbags and antilock brakes," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 32(2), pages 83-99, March.
    5. Berlemann, Michael & Matthes, Andreas, 2014. "Positive externalities from active car safety systems," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 313-329.
    6. Johansson-Stenman, Olof, 2006. "Mad Cows, Terrorism and Junk Food: Should Public Policy Reflect Subjective or Objective Risks?," Working Papers in Economics 194, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    7. Babcock, Michael W. & Gayle, Philip G., 2009. "State Variation in the Determinants of Motor Vehicle Fatalities," Journal of the Transportation Research Forum, Transportation Research Forum, vol. 48(3).
    8. Johansson-Stenman, Olof, 2008. "Mad cows, terrorism and junk food: Should public policy reflect perceived or objective risks?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 234-248, March.
    9. Blattenberger, Gail & Fowles, Richard & Loeb, Peter D., 2013. "Determinants of motor vehicle crash fatalities using Bayesian model selection methods," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 112-122.
    10. Russell S. Sobel & Todd M. Nesbit, 2007. "Automobile Safety Regulation and the Incentive to Drive Recklessly: Evidence from NASCAR," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 74(1), pages 71-84, July.
    11. Germà Bel & Óscar Gasulla & Ferran A. Mazaira-Font, 2020. "The effect of health and economic costs on governments' policy responses to COVID-19 crisis, under incomplete information," IREA Working Papers 202008, University of Barcelona, Research Institute of Applied Economics, revised Jun 2020.
    12. Keeler, Theodore E., 1993. "Highway Safety, Economic Behavior, and Driving Environment," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt9c27z2z1, University of California Transportation Center.
    13. White, Michelle J, 2004. "The "Arms Race" on American Roads: The Effect of Sport Utility Vehicles and Pickup Trucks on Traffic Safety," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 47(2), pages 333-355, October.
    14. Steven D. Levitt, 2008. "Evidence that Seat Belts Are as Effective as Child Safety Seats in Preventing Death for Children Aged Two and Up," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(1), pages 158-163, February.
    15. Hsiao, Cheng & Hashem Pesaran, M. & Kamil Tahmiscioglu, A., 2002. "Maximum likelihood estimation of fixed effects dynamic panel data models covering short time periods," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 109(1), pages 107-150, July.
    16. Liang, Yuanning, 2023. "Do Safety Inspections Improve Safety? Evidence from the Roadside Inspection Program for Commercial Vehicles," 2023 Annual Meeting, July 23-25, Washington D.C. 335618, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    17. Tsai, Tsung-Han, 2016. "A Bayesian Approach to Dynamic Panel Models with Endogenous Rarely Changing Variables," Political Science Research and Methods, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(3), pages 595-620, September.
    18. Burkey, Mark L. & Obeng, Kofi, 2005. "Crash Risk Reduction at Signalized Intersections Using Longitudinal Data," MPRA Paper 36281, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Asmussen, Katherine E. & Mondal, Aupal & Bhat, Chandra R., 2022. "Adoption of partially automated vehicle technology features and impacts on vehicle miles of travel (VMT)," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 156-179.
    20. Steven D. Levitt & Jack Porter, 2001. "Sample Selection In The Estimation Of Air Bag And Seat Belt Effectiveness," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 83(4), pages 603-615, November.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:soecon:v:68:y:2002:i:4:p:922-934. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1002/(ISSN)2325-8012 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.