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Looking Back at 50 Years of the Clean Air Act

Author

Listed:
  • Joseph E. Aldy
  • Maximilian Auffhammer
  • Maureen Cropper
  • Arthur Fraas
  • Richard Morgenstern

Abstract

We synthesize and review retrospective analyses of federal air quality regulations to examine the contributions of the Clean Air Act (CAA) to the vast air quality improvements seen since 1970. Geographic heterogeneity in stringency affects emissions, public health, compliance costs, and employment. Cap-and-trade has delivered greater emission reductions at lower cost than conventional mandates, yet has fallen short of textbook ideals. Market power also influenced the CAA's benefits and costs. New benefit categories have been identified ex post, but specific technology requirements have not yet been rigorously evaluated. Comparisons of aggregate benefits and costs of the CAA are beyond present capabilities.

Suggested Citation

  • Joseph E. Aldy & Maximilian Auffhammer & Maureen Cropper & Arthur Fraas & Richard Morgenstern, 2022. "Looking Back at 50 Years of the Clean Air Act," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 60(1), pages 179-232, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:jeclit:v:60:y:2022:i:1:p:179-232
    DOI: 10.1257/jel.20201626
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    Cited by:

    1. Campbell, Jason & Levkoff, Steven, 2025. "Assessing the productivity and abatement effects of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendment," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(1).
    2. Tom Schmitz & Italo Colantone & Gianmarco Ottaviano, 2024. "Regional and Aggregate Economic Consequences of Environmental Policy," Working Papers 2024.10, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    3. Ma, Zihao & Zhang, Pingdan, 2025. "Did the main functional area planning promote green development in China?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    4. Shirley Lu & George Serafeim & Simon Xu & MarcAntonio Awada, 2025. "Tracking business opportunities for climate solutions using AI in regulated accounting reports," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-20, December.
    5. Aldy, Joseph E., 2022. "Learning How to Build Back Better through Clean Energy Policy Evaluation," RFF Working Paper Series 22-15, Resources for the Future.
    6. Lutz Sager & Gregor Singer, 2025. "Clean Identification? The Effects of the Clean Air Act on Air Pollution, Exposure Disparities, and House Prices," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 17(1), pages 1-36, February.
    7. Björn Bos & Moritz A. Drupp & Lutz Sager, 2025. "The Distributional Effects of Low Emission Zones: Who Benefits from Cleaner Air?," CESifo Working Paper Series 11739, CESifo.
    8. Tom Schmitz & Italo Colantone & Gianmarco Ottaviano, 2024. "Regional and Aggregate Economic Consequences of Environmental Policy Abstract: This paper shows how to combine microeconometric evidence on the effects of environmental policy with a macroeconomic model, accounting for general equilibrium spillovers ," BAFFI CAREFIN Working Papers 24225, BAFFI CAREFIN, Centre for Applied Research on International Markets Banking Finance and Regulation, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy.
    9. Bialek, Sylwia & Gregory, Jack & Revesz, Richard L., 2022. "Still your grandfather's boiler: Estimating the effects of the Clean Air Act's grandfathering provisions," Working Papers 05/2022, German Council of Economic Experts / Sachverständigenrat zur Begutachtung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung.
    10. Srabashi Ray & Thomas W. Hertel, 2025. "Effectiveness and Distributional Impacts of Conservation Policies: The Role of Labor Markets," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 88(5), pages 1147-1193, May.
    11. Luo, Ximing & Dong, Cong & Dong, Xiucheng, 2024. "How economic transformation influence the employment of resource-based cities: Evidence from Shanxi Province, China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    12. Basu, Sayahnika & Ketcham, Jonathan D. & Kuminoff, Nicolai V., 2025. "Environmental regulation, residential sorting, and pollution exposure among senior Americans," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    13. Aldy, Joseph E. & Atkinson, Giles & Kotchen, Matthew J., 2021. "Environmental benefit-cost analysis: a comparative analysis between the United States and the United Kingdom," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 110879, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    14. Antonio M. Bento & Noah Miller & Mehreen Mookerjee & Edson Severnini, 2023. "Incidental Adaptation: The Role of Non-climate Regulations," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 86(3), pages 305-343, November.
    15. Jiacheng Shao & Zeyuan Liu & Guoxia Ma & Qingyu Zhang & Jinnan Wang, 2025. "Green growth and urban employment: Evaluating the impact of ecosystem conservation on diverse sectors in Yunnan Province, China," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(1), pages 1030-1043, February.
    16. Auffhammer, Maximilian, 2023. "Localizing Environmental Regulation: The Case of Boutique Fuels," RFF Working Paper Series 23-20, Resources for the Future.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D61 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Allocative Efficiency; Cost-Benefit Analysis
    • K32 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Energy, Environmental, Health, and Safety Law
    • Q51 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Valuation of Environmental Effects
    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

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