Interest Groups, Litigation, and Agency Decisions: Evidence from the Endangered Species Act

Christian Langpap

Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, 2022, vol. 9, issue 1, 1 - 26

Abstract: Interest groups are known to influence regulatory activity. Action-forcing litigation, the most direct way in which groups can affect regulatory decision making, is particularly relevant for implementation of the Endangered Species Act. Environmental organizations have filed hundreds of lawsuits to compel listing and critical habitat designation for imperiled species. This paper uses a unique data set to examine the role of citizen litigation in ESA implementation. I analyze the direct impact of lawsuits filed on behalf of a species and the effects of lawsuits filed on behalf of other species to assess whether there are spillovers caused by resource allocation constraints created by litigation. Results suggest that citizen lawsuits have a positive impact on ESA implementation and that the magnitude of these effects is significant. There is no evidence of negative spillovers from litigation on behalf of other species.

Date: 2022
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