Getting Cars Off the Road: The Cost-Effectiveness of an Episodic Pollution Control Program

Maureen Cropper, Yi Jiang (), Anna Alberini and Patrick Baur

No 15904, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Ground-level ozone remains a serious problem in the United States. Because ozone non-attainment is a summer problem, episodic rather than continuous controls of ozone precursors are possible. We evaluate the costs and effectiveness of an episodic scheme that requires people to buy permits to drive on high-ozone days. We estimate the demand function for permits based on a survey of 1,300 households in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. Assuming that all vehicle owners comply with the scheme, the permit program would reduce volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by 50 tons and nitrogen oxides (NOx) by 42 tons per Code Red day at a permit price of $75. Allowing for non-compliance by 15 percent of respondents reduces the effectiveness of the scheme to 39 tons of VOCs and 33 tons of NOx per day. The cost per ozone season of achieving these reductions is approximately $9 million (2008 USD). This compares favorably with permanent methods of reducing VOCs that cost $645 per ton per year.

JEL-codes: Q52 Q53 Q58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene, nep-env and nep-ure
Note: EEE
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Published as Maureen Cropper & Yi Jiang & Anna Alberini & Patrick Baur, 2014. "Getting Cars Off the Road: The Cost-Effectiveness of an Episodic Pollution Control Program," Environmental & Resource Economics, European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 57(1), pages 117-143, January.

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Journal Article: Getting Cars Off the Road: The Cost-Effectiveness of an Episodic Pollution Control Program (2014)
Working Paper: Getting Cars Off the Road: The Cost-Effectiveness of an Episodic Pollution Control Program (2010)
Working Paper: Getting Cars Off the Road: The Cost-Effectiveness of an Episodic Pollution Control Program (2010)
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