Understanding the Heterogeneity in Decentralized Environmental Policies

Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation

Citations

Citeable URL: https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/cv43nz20g

Abstract

This dissertation studies the heterogeneity in decentralized air pollution, water pollution, and transportation policies, and identifies implications for optimal policy design. The first chapter investigates whether states exhibit beggar-thy-neighbor and free-riding behaviors when implementing nonpoint-source (NPS) water pollution policies. I find that rivers within 30 km of state borders are less likely to be treated by more decentralized policies. Each behavior leads to a large deadweight loss. The second chapter conducts a large-scale study of the effectiveness of a variety of driving restriction policies in a variety of locations in China. I show that policy details and pollution concentration are the major factors that affect the actual and estimated effects of driving restriction policies, and also a potential explanation for earlier studies that showed driving restriction policies had little effect. In the third chapter, my co-author and I estimate time-varying and location-specific congestion costs across California's highways. We find that toll incidence increases with income. Black and Asian households bear more toll costs per day in location-based congestion tolls compared to white households.

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