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Empirical Analysis of Sanctions for Environmental Offenses

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  • Rousseau, Sandra

Abstract

Sanctions are a crucial part of enforcing environmental regulations. We discuss the determinants and the levels of monetary penalties for environmental offenses found in practice. Three major categories of variables are distinguished: the circumstances of the offense, the characteristics of the offenders, and the indirect political and institutional effects. Some general trends emerge: fines increase with the harm caused by the offense and fines are higher for repeat offenders as well as for intentional offenses. Also, the studies discussed indicate that political and institutional factors matter. The empirical studies provide some initial insights into the objective functions of courts and agencies.

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  • Rousseau, Sandra, 2009. "Empirical Analysis of Sanctions for Environmental Offenses," International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, now publishers, vol. 3(3), pages 161-194, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:now:jirere:101.00000024
    DOI: 10.1561/101.00000024
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    Cited by:

    1. Ahsan Habib & Md Borhan Uddin Bhuiyan, 2017. "Determinants of monetary penalties for environmental violations," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(6), pages 754-775, September.
    2. Anabela Botelho, 2012. "An empirical analysis of the factors influencing compliance with healthcare waste management regulations," NIMA Working Papers 46, Núcleo de Investigação em Microeconomia Aplicada (NIMA), Universidade do Minho.
    3. Alfred Endres & Bianca Rundshagen, 2012. "Escalating penalties: a supergame approach," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 29-49, March.
    4. Carole M. Billiet & Thomas Blondiau & Sandra Rousseau, 2014. "Punishing environmental crimes: An empirical study from lower courts to the court of appeal," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 8(4), pages 472-496, December.
    5. Wang, Yujie & Tsang, Albert & Xiang, Yi & Yao, Daifei (Troy), 2023. "Corporate social responsibility misconduct and formation of board interlocks," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    6. Shimshack, Jay P. & Ward, Michael B., 2022. "Costly sanctions and the treatment of frequent violators in regulatory settings," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    7. Keisaku Higashida, 2019. "Burden of Inspection Costs and Effectiveness of Environmental Regulations," Discussion Paper Series 189, School of Economics, Kwansei Gakuin University.
    8. Christian Almer & Timo Goeschl, 2011. "The political economy of the environmental criminal justice system: a production function approach," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 148(3), pages 611-630, September.
    9. Anabela Botelho, 2013. "The impact of regulatory compliance behavior on hazardous waste generation in European private healthcare facilities," NIMA Working Papers 49, Núcleo de Investigação em Microeconomia Aplicada (NIMA), Universidade do Minho.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Enforcement; Environmental violations; Monetary penalties; Empirical analysis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
    • Q5 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics

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