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Toward a Political Theory of Environmental Policy

Author

Listed:
  • Marcel Boyer
  • Jean-Jacques Laffont
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.

Suggested Citation

  • Marcel Boyer & Jean-Jacques Laffont, 1996. "Toward a Political Theory of Environmental Policy," CIRANO Working Papers 96s-07, CIRANO.
    • Handle: RePEc:cir:cirwor:96s-07
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    File URL: https://cirano.qc.ca/files/publications/96s-07.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Ulph, Alistair, 1998. "Political institutions and the design of environmental policy in a federal system with asymmetric information," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(3-5), pages 583-592, May.
    2. Amigues, Jean-Pierre & Favard, Pascal & Gaudet, Gerard & Moreaux, Michel, 1998. "On the Optimal Order of Natural Resource Use When the Capacity of the Inexhaustible Substitute Is Limited," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 80(1), pages 153-170, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Environment; Political Economy; Political Theory; Choice of Instruments; Environnement; Économie politique; Théorie politique; Choix d'instruments;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D6 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics
    • H1 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • L5 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy
    • Q2 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation

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