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The Distribution of Pollution in the United States: An Environmental Gini Approach

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Author Info
Millimet, Daniel L. (Southern Methodist University)
Slottje, Daniel (Southern Methodist University)

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Abstract

The concepts of an environmental Gini coefficient along with a measure of ''pollution elasticity'' are introduced and used to analyze the distribution of pollution across U.S. states from 1988 -- 1996. The special properties of the Gini coefficient allow one to decompose overall pollution inequality into several components based on pollution type and predict the effects on overall pollution inequality from stricter regulations on particular types of emissions. In addition, an environmental welfare function -- analogous to Sen's social welfare function -- is derived and used along with the extended Gini to analyze the impact of tighter environmental regulations on different types of emissions. Finally, Spearman correlations between per capita emissions and state attributes are used to assess whether states at the upper tail of the pollution distribution are randomly assigned. The emissions data is obtained from the U.S. EPA's Toxic Release Inventory (TRI).

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File URL: ftp://ftp1.economics.smu.edu/WorkingPapers/1999/millimet/gini.pdf
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Southern Methodist University, Department of Economics in its series Departmental Working Papers with number 002.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Length: 31 pages
Date of creation: 22 Sep 1999
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:smu:ecowpa:002

Contact details of provider:
Postal: Department of Economics, P.O. Box 750496, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275-0496
Phone: 214-768-2715
Fax: 214-768-1821
Web page: http://www.smu.edu/economics

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Related research
Keywords: Pollution; Gini Coefficient; Inequality; Environmental Justice; Environmental Regulation;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
Q0 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - General
J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
R3 - Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics - - Production Analysis and Firm Location
C5 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling
H0 - Public Economics - - General

References listed on IDEAS
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  1. Cropper, Maureen L. & Simon, Nathalie B. & Alberini, Anna & Sharma, P. K., 1997. "The health effects of air pollution in Delhi, India," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1860, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  2. Lerman, Robert I. & Yitzhaki, Shlomo, 1984. "A note on the calculation and interpretation of the Gini index," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 15(3-4), pages 363-368. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Brooks, Nancy & Sethi, Rajiv, 1997. "The Distribution of Pollution: Community Characteristics and Exposure to Air Toxics," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 233-250, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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This page was last updated on 2009-12-20.

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