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Allocative Implications of Comparisons Between the Marginal Costs of Point and Nonpoint Source Pollution Abatement

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 May 2017

James S. Shortle
James S. Shortle*
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park
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Abstract

This paper examines the possible use of information on the relative marginal costs of point and nonpoint source water pollution abatement to assess the efficiency implications of shifting a greater portion of the burden for water quality protection to nonpoint sources. The inherent uncertainty about the effects of changes in resource allocation for nonpoint pollution abatement on nonpoint pollution loads is recognized in the analysis. This uncertainty is shown to result in significant limitations on the use of marginal cost comparisons even when point and nonpoint pollutants are perfect substitutes.

Type
Research Article
Information
Northeastern Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics , Volume 16 , Issue 1 , April 1987 , pp. 17 - 23
Copyright
Copyright © 1987 Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 

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Footnotes

Paper No. 7603 of the Pennsylvania Agricultural Experiment Station.

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