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Illegal Waste Disposal, Territorial Enforcement and Policy. Evidence from regional data

Author

Listed:
  • Alessio D'Amato

    (DEF and CEIS, Univesità di Roma Tor Vergata and SEEDS (Italy).)

  • Massimiliano Mazzanti

    (Departiment of Economics, Università di Ferrara (Italy).)

  • Francesco Nicolli

    (Ceris-CNR, Institute for Economic Research on Firms and Growth, National Research Council of Italy.)

  • Mariangela Zoli

    (DEF and CEIS, Univesità di Roma Tor Vergata and SEEDS (Italy).)

Abstract

This paper investigates if and how illegal disposal of waste is affected by the decentralized waste management commitment of local governments and by enforcement policies. On the basis of a panel dataset at the Italian provincial level that originally integrates waste, economic, policy and enforcement data, our empirical analysis presents two main insights. First, a more diffuse commitment towards incentive based waste policy tends to increase illegal disposal. Second, a non-linear bell shaped relationship exists between enforcement and illegal disposal, namely deterrence only results after a (relatively high) level of controls is implemented.

Suggested Citation

  • Alessio D'Amato & Massimiliano Mazzanti & Francesco Nicolli & Mariangela Zoli, 2014. "Illegal Waste Disposal, Territorial Enforcement and Policy. Evidence from regional data," SEEDS Working Papers 0314, SEEDS, Sustainability Environmental Economics and Dynamics Studies, revised Feb 2014.
    • Handle: RePEc:srt:wpaper:0314
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Binfeng Shi, 2024. "Transmission mechanism of public concern in waste-sorting policy: Evidence from text mining," Energy & Environment, , vol. 35(3), pages 1616-1636, May.
    3. Anna Rita Germani & Antonio Pergolizzi & Filippo Reganati, 2015. "Law Enforcement and Illegal Trafficking of Waste: Evidence from Italy," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 35(4), pages 2673-2684.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    waste management; illegal disposal; forestry corps; enforcement; regional settings; waste tariffs; ecological-economic data.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
    • D73 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption

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