Working Paper: NBER ID: w7305
Authors: Raghbendra Jha; John Whalley
Abstract: This paper discusses the environmental externalities that are commonly found in the developing world (the environmental regime) along with the policy responses, if any, commonly used to deal with these. Included are the effects of industrial emissions, air and water quality impacts of untreated waste (industrial and human waste), congestion effects of traffic, soil erosion, and open access resource problems (including forests). We note the tendency in much literature of the last few years to equate environmental problems in developing countries with pollutants (or emissions). The paper argues that to discuss environmental problems in developing countries (or to compare with developed countries) without reference to degradation as well as pollutants is incomplete; the effects of the former are large and pervasive, and their severity and interaction with economic process often differs sharply from that of pollutants. The paper concludes with a discussion of how environmental policy in developing countries differs from that found in developed countries in light of our focus on degradation effects.
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JEL Codes: No JEL codes provided
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| inadequate internalization of environmental externalities (D62) | significant social costs (F69) |
| degradation impacts (Q53) | economic outcomes (F61) |
| social costs of uninternalized externalities (D62) | environmental policy priority (Q58) |
| growth and policy reform (O29) | environmental quality (Q50) |
| urbanization increases (R11) | soil erosion issues diminish (Q24) |
| trade policies (F13) | congestion (L91) |
| full internalization of environmental costs (Q52) | welfare gains (D69) |
| barriers to achieving internalization (F23) | environmental policy effectiveness (Q58) |
| unique characteristics of developing countries (O10) | tailored environmental policies (Q58) |