Toward a Political Theory of Environmental Policy

Marcel Boyer and Jean-Jacques Laffont

CIRANO Working Papers from CIRANO

Abstract: This paper makes some steps toward a formal political economy of environmental policy. Economists' quasi-unanimous preferences for sophisticated incentive regulation is reconsidered. First, we recast the question of instrument choice in the general mechanism literature and provide an incomplete contract approach to political economy. Then, in various settings, we show why constitutional constraints on the instruments of environmental policy may be desirable, even though they appear inefficient from a purely standard economic viewpoint. Their justification lies in the limitations they impose on the politicians' ability to distribute rents. Some insights are then provided into the question often raised regarding the recent emergence of incentive mechanisms in environmental regulation. Nous developpons dans cet article quelques jalons d'une économie politique de la politique environnementale. Nous réexaminons le consensus des économistes en faveur de mécanismes sophistiqués de réglementation incitative. Nous insérons tout d'abord la question du choix des instruments dans le cadre général de la construction de mécanismes et nous développons une économie politique à partir d'une analyse de contrats incomplets. Ensuite, nous montrons dans divers contextes pourquoi des contraintes constitutionnelles sur le choix des instruments de politique environnementale peuvent être désirables malgré leur apparente inefficacité économique. Leur justification réside dans les limites qu'elles imposent à la capacité des politiciens de distribuer des rentes. Nos résultats permettent de mieux comprendre l'émergence récente de mécanismes incitatifs en réglementation environnementale.

Keywords: Environment; Political Economy; Political Theory; Choice of Instruments; Environnement; Économie politique; Théorie politique; Choix d'instruments (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D6 H1 L5 Q2 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1996-01-01
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Toward a Political Theory of Environmental Policy (1996)
Working Paper: Toward a Political Theory of Environmental Policy (1996)
Working Paper: Toward a Political Theory of Environmental Policy (1996)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cir:cirwor:96s-07

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