【经岚传递】转型国家的环境政策：污染费的效果

【经岚传递】16L64

转型国家的环境政策：污染费的效果

——[读论文]之“环境保护的政治经济学分析”系列

编译/ZQ

本期【经岚传递】所介绍的是来自于Patrik Söderholm发表在Annual meeting of the Association for Evolutionary Economics, New York City, New York, January 2-5, 1999上的“Environmental Policy in Transition Economies:The Effectiveness of Pollution Charges”一文。

文章摘要

在许多经济学家和分析者看来，环境政策中的排污费对于转型国家非常有用，本文认为这个观点值得商榷，主要原因是排污费政策的前提是已经存在一个较为完善的制度框架。本文围绕俄罗斯的例子，解释和讨论为何在一个转型国家排污费政策难以发挥效应的原因，尤其是当这些国家市场主体的行为模式和立法都仍然处于过往的制度体系下。企业和政府规制层面上的制度障碍仍然存在。文章得出结论认为，在转型国家，环境问题更多的是经济和政治体系的转型过程带来的，而不是市场失灵造成的，结果是，在转型国家，污染控制政策和战略远比经济理论所讲述的来得更为复杂。文章最后提出，在俄罗斯等转型国家，控制与命令的规制和投入税或许是控制污染更为有效的选择。

Abstract

Most economists and analysts claim that extended use of pollution charges in environmental policy will have substantial efficiency advantages in countries undergoing transition to market economies. Essentially this paper challenges this view and argues that the proposed policy presumes the existence of an already functioning institutional framework. By focusing on the Russian case, the paper identifies and discusses a number of reasons why it has become hard to implement pollution charges in an economic system where behavioral patterns and jurisdictions established in the past are still prevalent. Institutional obstacles both at the firm level and within Russian regulatory agencies are discussed. The paper concludes that it is probably more appropriate to view environmental problems in transition economies not as market imperfections per se, but as results of institutional inertia in the economic and political systems. As a consequence the choice of pollution control strategy becomes much more complex than is implied by economic theory. The paper ends with a discussion of command and control regulation and input taxes as alternative ways to control pollution in Russia.

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