Policy Brief—Facilitating Retrospective Analysis of Environmental Regulations. (7th June 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Cropper, Maureen L; Morgenstern, Richard D; Rivers, Nicholas
• Is Part Of: Review of environmental economics and policy. Volume 12:Number 2(2018)
• Page Start: 359
• Page End: 370
• Publication Date: 2018-06-07
• Subjects: Environmental economics -- Periodicals; Environmental policy -- Periodicals; 333.705
• DOI: 10.1093/reep/rey011
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1750-6816

Abstract

Abstract: Prospective or ex ante studies of the costs, benefits, and distributional impacts of new environmental regulations are now commonly performed in many countries. Retrospective analyses, which aim to document actual outcomes, are far less common. The purpose of this policy brief is to illustrate the value of retrospective analysis of environmental regulations, discuss the main challenges of conducting such studies, and make suggestions for facilitating the conduct of retrospective analyses. We examine recent examples of ex post analyses of three sets of U.S. regulations—the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Cluster Rule, the NOx Budget Program, and federal gasoline content regulations—and British Columbia's carbon tax. Based on this review, we offer some lessons for facilitating future retrospective analysis of environmental regulations.