TY - JOUR
T1 - Environmental enforcement and compliance in developing countries: Evidence from India
AU - Baris, Omer
AU - Saksena, Shalini
AU - Gupta, Shreekant
PY - 2019/5
Y1 - 2019/5
N2 - Effective implementation of environmental regulations is an important concern for emerging economies that face serious environmental degradation. In this paper we analyze compliance and enforcement of environmental regulations in India. In particular, we model: (i) plant-level compliance with water and air pollution control laws in the state of Punjab, and (ii) the decisions of the regulatory agency, namely, the Punjab Pollution Control Board to enforce these laws through inspections and other administrative actions. The two decisions are interrelated. For a sample of 117 large water polluting plants and 109 large air polluting plants the probability of inspection influences plant-level compliance and vice versa. We also find enforcement activity is targeted towards frequent violators. Plants that belong to dirty industries are more stringently monitored but those belonging to more profitable firms less so. Plants with high abatement costs and those that are new comply less frequently.
AB - Effective implementation of environmental regulations is an important concern for emerging economies that face serious environmental degradation. In this paper we analyze compliance and enforcement of environmental regulations in India. In particular, we model: (i) plant-level compliance with water and air pollution control laws in the state of Punjab, and (ii) the decisions of the regulatory agency, namely, the Punjab Pollution Control Board to enforce these laws through inspections and other administrative actions. The two decisions are interrelated. For a sample of 117 large water polluting plants and 109 large air polluting plants the probability of inspection influences plant-level compliance and vice versa. We also find enforcement activity is targeted towards frequent violators. Plants that belong to dirty industries are more stringently monitored but those belonging to more profitable firms less so. Plants with high abatement costs and those that are new comply less frequently.
UR - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X19300269
U2 - 10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.02.001
DO - 10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.02.001
M3 - Article
SN - 1873-5991
VL - 117
SP - 313
EP - 327
JO - World Development
JF - World Development
ER -