Economist's study questions global pollution control practices

Author: Gail Hinchion Mancini

Providing financial incentives to developing nations to curb transnational pollution may hurt more than help, unless the incentives are tied to more stringent emission standards, according to research by Richard A. Jensen, chair and professor of economics at the University of Notre Dame.p. In a study recently published in the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Jensen and coauthor Paul E. Chambers of Central Missouri State University use game theory to examine systems in which prosperous nations provide developing nations with pollution abatement support, but fail to link those incentives to emission reduction standards. These abatement plans forego tough standards out of concern that developing nations have neither the political will nor capability to meet them.p.

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