Addressing Environmental Justice through In-Kind Court Settlements

Pamela Campa and Lucija Muehlenbachs

American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 2024, vol. 16, issue 1, 415-46

Abstract: In US environmental court cases, a cash penalty can be mitigated if a defendant volunteers to undertake an in-kind project, such as retrofitting school buses or building a public park. A goal of the policy is to address environmental justice concerns for low-income and minority populations, yet the historical record shows in-kind settlements most likely occur in cases involving high-income, majority-White communities. A choice experiment reveals that the public prefers in-kind settlements over cash, and a randomized survey reveals in-kind settlements improve the public's view of a violating firm, consistent with our finding of positive stock market reactions to in-kind settlements.

JEL-codes: D63 H23 J15 K32 Q53 Q58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Addressing Environmental Justice through In-Kind Court Settlements (2023)
Working Paper: Addressing Environmental Justice through In-Kind Court Settlements (2021)
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DOI: 10.1257/pol.20210432

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