TY  - JOUR
AU  - Popp,David
TI  - Pollution Control Innovations and the Clean Air Act of 1990
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 8593
PY  - 2001
Y2  - November 2001
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w8593
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w8593.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
David Popp
Associate Professor of Public Administration
Syracuse University
The Maxwell School
426 Eggers Hall
Syracuse, NY 13244-1020
Tel: 315/443-2482
Fax: 315/443-1081
E-Mail: dcpopp@maxwell.syr.edu
AB  - Although economists cite potential gains from induced innovation as an advantage of using market-based mechanisms to protect the environment, counts of patents related to flue gas desulfurization units ('scrubbers') peaked before trading of sulfur dioxide (SO2) permits began.  This paper uses plant level data to study the effect of these patents on pollution control. I find that requiring plants constructed before 1990 to install scrubbers created incentives for innovation that would lower the costs of operating scrubbers.  There is little evidence that the new patents created before 1990 improved the ability of scrubbers to more effectively control pollution.  However, patents granted during the 1990s, when market-based mechanisms were in place, do serve to improve the removal efficiency of scrubbers.
ER  -