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Title: Environmental Protection, Interjurisdictional Transport, and the Demographic Distribution of Solid Waste Disposal Environmental Protection in Solid Waste

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2018

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Abstract: Using data on intercounty waste flows in California and a structural model of haulers' decisions about where to deposit waste from each county, this paper studies the effects of environmental protection policies on the spatial and demographic distribution of solid waste. I find that waste is currently more likely to be hauled to disposal facilities in communities with higher percentages of blacks and Hispanics, even after I control for income, disposal fees, and transport distances, suggesting that unobserved characteristics of facilities and neighborhoods matter in haulers' decisions. I account for these factors by allowing for facility fixed effects in the demand model for waste disposal facilities. The results show that policies that limit waste flows would reduce intercounty waste transport but they generally would not lead to a more equitable distribution of trash. In particular, these policies tend to lead to substitution of waste away from facilities near white residents and toward facilities near Hispanic residents, potentially exacerbating distributional concerns.

Url: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/4478/f1d5541c147a69bb6052d88a7fa0e26c22d1.pdf

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Ho, Phuong

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Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Natural Resource Management

Countries: United States