The Economic Theory of Environmental Policy in a Federal System

The complexity of a multi-layered system of government yields a wealth of issues concerning environmental policy making. This important book presents new original work on the problems that arise from the existence of more than one level of government, and discusses the responsibility of federal, state and local government policy making.

This theme of government responsibilty for environmental regulation is expanded to consider the coordination of environmental policy across different levels of government. This is directly related to the question of which level of government should bear the costs of implementing environmental policy, if agreement can be reached between various levels of government. Furthermore the contributors discuss whether the policy targets for environmental quality should be uniform or regionally differentiated. They conclude that there is a role for both a federal government and for regional coordination in the design and application of environmental policies. Moreover, that economic integration through a federal system can result in better and more efficient environmental regulation.

The Economic Theory of Environmental Policy in a Federal System will be an invaluable resource for academics, policymakers and government officials.

Edited by John B. Braden, Professor of Environmental Economics and Director of the Water Resources Center, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, US, and Stef Proost, Associate Professor of Economics, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium