The natalist bias of pollution control

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of Environmental Economics and Management
Year: 2012
Volume: 63
Issue: 2
Pages: 271-287

Authors (2)

Score contribution per author:

2.018 = (α=2.02 / 2 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

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

Abstract

For a given technology, two ways are available to achieve low polluting emissions: reducing production per capita or reducing population size. This paper insists on the tension between the former and the latter. Controlling pollution either through Pigovian taxes or through tradable quotas schemes encourages agents to shift away from production to tax free activities such as procreation and leisure. This natalist bias will deteriorate the environment further, entailing the need to impose ever more stringent pollution rights per person. However, this will in turn gradually impoverish the successive generations: population will tend to increase further and production per capita to decrease as the generations pass. One possible solution consists in capping population too.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:jeeman:v:63:y:2012:i:2:p:271-287
Journal Field
Environment
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-25