Abstract
This paper measures and analyzes the effect of sulfur dioxide emission restrictions on the rate of productivity growth in the electric power industry over the 1973-79 business cycle. A firm-specific measure of regulatory intensity is developed which depends on the severity of the emission standard, the extent of enforcement, and the unconstrained emission rate relevant to each utility. The results indicate that emission regulations result in significantly higher generating costs, primarily from the increased use of low-sulfur fuels. The average rate of productivity growth was reduced by 0.59 percentage points per year for constrained utilities.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Economic Costs and Consequences of Environmental Regulation |
| Publisher | Taylor and Francis |
| Pages | 43-64 |
| Number of pages | 22 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781315188010 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781138731141 |
| State | Published - Jan 18 2018 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Social Sciences(all)