The Economics of Environmental regulation

by Wallace E. Oates

Environmental regulation and policy making are increasingly influenced by economic considerations. Over the past 30 years, Wallace E. Oates has been closely involved in the development of environmental economics as a distinct and vital field for theoretical study, applied research and policy prescription. Drawing key papers together in a systematic fashion, Professor Oates's collection begins with thoughtful overviews of the field and then continues with discussion of specific issues. Among the topics addressed are instruments for environmental regulation, the use of fees and taxes, emission permits, environmental federalism and global environmental management. The Economics of Environmental Regulation includes a specially written introduction in which Professor Oates discusses the dramatic changes in environmental regulation and enforcement since the 1960s and the growing recognition of the importance of market approaches in environmental policy making.

480 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Wallace Oates was a Distinguished University Professor Emeritus at the University of Maryland and a University Fellow at Resources for the Future. He received his PhD in economics at Stanford in 1965 and joined the faculty at Princeton University. He moved to the University of Maryland in 1979. He specialized in the areas of public economics and environmental economics.

His primary research interests were public finance and environmental economics. Since his first book, Fiscal Federalism (1972), he explored the assignment of functions to different levels of government in a federal system, the provision of local public goods, the design of intergovernmental grants, and the structure of local revenue systems. He worked on these matters with urban groups, the European Union, the OECD, and various federal and state agencies in the United States.

His central environmental economics interest was in the use of economic incentives for environmental management. In numerous writings including The Theory of Environmental Policy (1975, revised edition 1988), with William Baumol, he studied the design and implementation of taxes on polluting activities and systems of tradable emissions allowances. He worked on the design of regulatory programs for pollution control with the U.S. EPA, the OECD, and other federal and state agencies. He served on the Environmental Economics Advisory Committee for the EPA.