TY  - JOUR
AU  - Sigman,Hilary
AU  - Traub,Leah G.
TI  - Voluntary Decentralization in Environmental Policy: "Cooperative Federalism" as a Strategic Interaction
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 13238
PY  - 2007
Y2  - July 2007
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w13238
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w13238.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Hilary Sigman
Department of Economics
Rutgers University
75 Hamilton Street
New Brunswick, NJ  08901-1248
Fax: 732/932-7416
E-Mail: sigman@econ.rutgers.edu

Leah G.. Traub
Lord Abbett & Co LLC
90 Hudson Street
Jersey City, NJ  07302-3973
E-Mail: ltraub@lordabbett.com
AB  - Under most U.S. environmental laws and some health and safety laws, states may apply to implement and enforce the law, through a process known as authorization or primacy. This paper presents a simple model of the strategic interaction between the federal and state governments with such voluntary decentralization. The model suggests that the federal government may design the policy so that states that desire stringent regulation authorize, whereas other states remain under the federal program. We then test the implications of this model using data on U.S. water pollution and hazardous waste regulations, two of the most important environmental programs to allow authorization. Consistent with the results of our model, states with stronger environmental preferences authorize more quickly under both policies. The evidence runs counter to concerns that states use control of their programs to undercut federal environmental standards.
ER  -