Environmental policy in transition economies : will pollution charges work?

• Many economists & analysts claim that extended use of pollution charges in environmental policy will have substantial efficiency advantages in transition economies. This article challenges this view & argues instead that the proposed policy presumes the existence of an already-functioning institutional framework. By focusing on the Russian case, the article discusses a number of reasons why it is difficult to implement pollution charges in an economic system in which Communist behavioral patterns & jurisdictions are still prevalent. The article identifies a number of institutional obstacles related both to enterprise behavior & to environmental regulation & enforcement. These obstacles suggest that it is appropriate to view environmental problems in transition economies primarily as the results of institutional inertia in the economic & political systems. The article ends by discussing alternative ways of controlling pollution in Russia & stresses the importance of improving the legitimacy & basic trust for environmental legislation.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Nationalekonomi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Economics (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Economics

Nationalekonomi

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)