Do voluntary pollution reduction programs (VPRs) spur or deter environmental innovation? Evidence from 33/50

• Autores: Carmen E. Carrión-Flores, Robert Innes, Abdoul G. Sam
• Localización: Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, ISSN-e 1096-0449, Vol. 66, Nº. 3, 2013, págs. 444-459
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • We study whether a government-sponsored voluntary pollution reduction program (VPR) promotes or deters the development of new environmental technologies that yield future emission reduction benefits. Using a panel of 127 U.S. manufacturing industries defined by 3-digit SIC classifications over the 1989�2004 period, we estimate impacts of industry-level participation in the 33/50 program, a VPR initiated by government regulators in 1991, on industry-level rates of environmental patenting. We find that higher rates of 33/50 program participation are associated with significant reductions in the number of successful environmental patent applications five to nine years after the program ended.