IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ucy/cypeua/1-2007.html

On the role of regulatory standards: Specification and some empirical evidence from motor vehicle fuel economy

Author

Listed:
  • Theodoros Zachariadis

Abstract

This paper proposes a simple model to evaluate the role of regulatory controls. It is formulated so as to enable drawing empirical conclusions on the basis of usual hypothesis tests. Three potential roles of standards are examined they can act as penalties for non-compliant firms, as norms to which all firms converge, and as controls with cumulative impact over time. I test this specification focusing on automobile fuel economy (CAFE) standards that have been imposed in the US since 1978, using annual data from each major auto manufacturer. Results show that CAFE rules, functioning mainly as penalties, have been an important determinant of car fuel consumption. The hypothesis that standards acted also as norms is rejected. Finally, the automobile industry as a whole became less constrained by regulations over the years because of stagnating CAFE standards since 1990 and progress in vehicle technology.

Suggested Citation

  • Theodoros Zachariadis, 2007. "On the role of regulatory standards: Specification and some empirical evidence from motor vehicle fuel economy," University of Cyprus Working Papers in Economics 1-2007, University of Cyprus Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucy:cypeua:1-2007
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://papers.econ.ucy.ac.cy/RePEc/papers/07-01.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Montero, Juan-Pablo, 2002. "Prices versus quantities with incomplete enforcement," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(3), pages 435-454, September.
    2. repec:aen:journl:1993v14-04-a12 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Choo, Sangho & Mokhtarian, Patricia L., 2004. "What type of vehicle do people drive? The role of attitude and lifestyle in influencing vehicle type choice," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 201-222, March.
    4. Sofronis Clerides & Theodoros Zachariadis, 2006. "Are standards Effective in Improving Automobile Fuel Economy?," University of Cyprus Working Papers in Economics 6-2006, University of Cyprus Department of Economics.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Vredin Johansson, Maria & Heldt, Tobias & Johansson, Per, 2006. "The effects of attitudes and personality traits on mode choice," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 507-525, July.
    2. Cristiano Codagnone & Giuseppe Alessandro Veltri & Francesco Bogliacino & Francisco Lupiáñez-Villanueva & George Gaskell & Andriy Ivchenko & Pietro Ortoleva & Francesco Mureddu, 2016. "Labels as nudges? An experimental study of car eco-labels," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 33(3), pages 403-432, December.
    3. Lehmann, Paul, 2010. "Combining emissions trading and emissions taxes in a multi-objective world," UFZ Discussion Papers 4/2010, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Division of Social Sciences (ÖKUS).
    4. Baldursson, Fridrik M. & von der Fehr, Nils-Henrik M, 2002. "Prices vs quantitities: the case of risk averse agents," Memorandum 01/2002, Oslo University, Department of Economics.
    5. Carmen Arguedas, 2008. "To Comply or Not To Comply? Pollution Standard Setting Under Costly Monitoring and Sanctioning," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 41(2), pages 155-168, October.
    6. Wårell, Linda & Ek, Kristina, 2024. "Male lone wolves and sociable females – Preferences for shared and AV transport services," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    7. Michel Freyssenet & Bruno Jetin, 2019. "The deregulation of employment and finance: the Big Three in crisis," Working Papers halshs-02020051, HAL.
    8. John Stranlund & Carlos Chávez, 2013. "Who should bear the administrative costs of an emissions tax?," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 53-79, August.
    9. Gomez-Trejos, Felipe, 2025. "Dynamic welfare implications of market-based climate policy under demand uncertainty," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 238(C).
    10. Gevrek, Z.Eylem & Uyduranoglu, Ayse, 2015. "Public preferences for carbon tax attributes," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 186-197.
    11. Christian Langpap, 2007. "Pollution abatement with limited enforcement power and citizen suits," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 31(1), pages 57-81, February.
    12. Nayum, Alim & Klöckner, Christian A. & Prugsamatz, Sunita, 2013. "Influences of car type class and carbon dioxide emission levels on purchases of new cars: A retrospective analysis of car purchases in Norway," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 96-108.
    13. Stranlund, John K. & Murphy, James J. & Spraggon, John M. & Zirogiannis, Nikolaos, 2019. "Tying enforcement to prices in emissions markets: An experimental evaluation," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    14. Mohiuddin, Hossain & Bunch, David S. & Fukushige, Tatsuya & Fitch-Polse, Dillon T. & Handy, Susan L., 2025. "What factors influence the adoption and use of dockless electric bike-share? A case study from the Sacramento region," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    15. repec:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2007-065 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Wood, Peter J. & Heindl, Peter & Jotzo, Frank & Löschel, Andreas, 2013. "Linking price and quantity pollution controls under uncertainty," ZEW Discussion Papers 13-025, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    17. Yazdanpanah, Mahdi & Hosseinlou, Mansour Hadji, 2016. "The influence of personality traits on airport public transport access mode choice: A hybrid latent class choice modeling approach," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 147-163.
    18. Bhat, Furqan A. & Verma, Ashish, 2024. "Electric two-wheeler adoption in India – A discrete choice analysis of motivators and barriers affecting the potential electric two-wheeler buyers," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 118-131.
    19. Cao, Xinyu, 2006. "The Causal Relationship between the Built Environment and Personal Travel Choice: Evidence from Northern California," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt07q5p340, University of California Transportation Center.
    20. Carmen Arguedas & Eva Camacho & José Zofío, 2010. "Environmental Policy Instruments: Technology Adoption Incentives with Imperfect Compliance," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 47(2), pages 261-274, October.
    21. Qinliang Tan & Minnan Wang & Yanming Deng & Haiping Yang & Rao Rao & Xingping Zhang, 2014. "The Cultivation of Electric Vehicles Market in China: Dilemma and Solution," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(8), pages 1-19, August.

    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:ucy:cypeua:1-2007. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.ucy.ac.cy/econ/?lang=en .

    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.