Environmental Regulations and the Cleanup of Manufacturing: Plant-Level Evidence

A-Tier
Journal: Review of Economics and Statistics
Year: 2021
Volume: 103
Issue: 3
Pages: 476-491

Authors (2)

Nouri Najjar (University of British Columbia) Jevan Cherniwchan (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

2.011 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

For much of the industrialized world, pollution from manufacturing has been falling despite increased output. We examine how air quality standards---a common environmental regulation---have contributed to this cleanup of manufacturing. We develop a general equilibrium model to show how air quality standards can lead to a cleanup by causing reductions in plant emission intensity, relative changes in plant output, and plant entry and exit. We provide quasi-experimental evidence from Canada to highlight the magnitude of these responses. Our results suggest that air quality standards explain just under 40% of the cleanup of manufacturing.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:tpr:restat:v:103:y:2021:i:3:p:476-491
Journal Field
General
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-25