Research project CP/11 (Research action CP)
Context
The project helps to develop political instruments for sustainable production. We examine legally formalised environmental policy instruments in the enforcement stage. The impact of the costs associated with the instruments and with the strategies used to implement them is studied for different users (government, firms, citizens).
It is important for regulation to correctly define and implement monitoring and enforcement strategies. An inadequately chosen enforcement policy can corrode the efficacy of the complete regulatory process. Estimating the consequences of environmental policy instruments in the enforcement stage assists political decision making. The correct estimation of the costs associated with these processes especially helps the regulator and the enforcers to choose adequate instruments for a sustainable policy.
Project description
Objectives
We examine the instruments and strategies of environmental law enforcement starting from an interdisciplinary approach Law & Economics. The objectives are:
- The in-depth exploration of the SPSD I - model "Law & Economics and the Choice of Environmental Policy Instruments" by including new instruments.
- The refinement of the study of costs and strategies of environmental law enforcement. This refinement will be both empirical and theoretical.
- Writing a synthesis of the accumulated knowledge concerning monitoring and enforcement.
The project is innovative in the following aspects:
- It separately models the social costs of the enforcement stage for the monitoring, sanctioning and sanction-execution instruments.
- It develops an empirical framework for research into the costs associated with the enforcement of environmental policy in Belgium.
- It studies the social costs of instruments (tradable permits), including enforcement, for which there exists no legislative experience in Belgium.
Methodology
We examine the following instruments: rule-making (tradable permits), monitoring and sanction-execution instruments. We analyse these instruments using the methodology developed within the framework of the SPSD I - project.
The law team formulates cards that represent the different cost aspects associated with the structure of the instruments. The cards and profiles of the instruments are formulated after analysis of the legislative practice and the relevant juridical framework. Using these cards the economic team, in close collaboration with the juridical team, valorizes the different cost aspects. The monetary appraisal of the cost aspects of the instruments is used as input in a numerical model and helps estimating the social cost connected to that instrument.
In the empirical part we want to identify and model the different factors that influence the decision to inspect a particular firm. We consider, among others, firm size, complaints filed, sector, examples of such models in the international literature are Dion, Lanoie and Laplante (DP-World Bank, 1996); Gray and Deily (JEEM, 1996) and Helland (JEEM, 1998). Next, in a second model, we want to analyse which sanctions are imposed when a firm is found in violation. We investigate whether these sanctions depend on the size of the violation, previous violations, sector etc... Two publications in which a sanction function is estimated are Cohen (JLE, 1987) and Oljaca, Keeler and Dorfman (J. of Regulatory Ec., 1998).
To correctly manage this task the collaboration of the administrations charged with environmental enforcement duties is necessary. We need to create a database with data on inspection, on firms and on the consequences of inspections. This work is partly delegated since such a database does not yet exist in Belgium.
In the theoretical part we provide an overview of existing dynamical models. The conclusions drawn from these studies will be compared with the empirical research we conduct. In dynamical models several time periods are incorporated. This allows us to take, for example, the compliance history of agents into account. Moreover agents are able to build a certain reputation over time.
Interaction between the different partners
The law team is mainly responsible for the formulation of the juridical cards of the different instruments and the analysis of the enforcement procedure in Belgium. The economic team will in essence provide the empirical and theoretical analysis of the data collected in the database. The legal and economic teams will work closely together and consequently provide each other with advice. In the past it has been shown that both approaches provide each other with new insights and an increased sense of reality. Cross fertilisation is necessary to correctly finish the project.
Expected results
We will create a database with data on firm inspections. This database can be used for further empirical research and as a basis for policy advice.
We will promote and distribute the importance of the research conducted and the acquired results by publications in scientific journals.
Moreover we will organise an international workshop on enforcement.
Partners
Activities
The research group Energy, Transport and Environment of the Centre for Economic Studies coordinates this project. The promoter and the research group have developed a varied and well-founded knowledge base. Prof. Dr. S. Proost was co-promoter and S. Rousseau researcher for the project "Law & Economics of the Choice of Environmental Policy Instruments" (SPSD I).
The second partner in this project is the Centre for Environmental Law (CMR) lead by Prof. Dr. Luc Lavrysen. The CMR has some 20 years of experience concerning environmental law and well-developed know-how about juridical formulation of environmental policy instruments within a given supranational and constitutional context. They build further on the experience accumulated during the above-mentioned SPSD I - project.
The researcher C.M.Billiet was part of this project.
Coordinates/Details
Prof. Dr. Stef Proost
KULeuven - Centre for Economic Studies - Research group Energy, Transport and Environment
Naamsestraat 69
B-3000 Leuven
Tel: +32 (0)16 32 68 01; Fax: +32 (0)16 32 69 10
E-mail: Stef.Proost@econ.kuleuven.ac.be
Website: www.kuleuven.ac.be/ete
Prof. Dr. Luc Lavrysen
University of Gent - Faculty of Law - Centre for Environmental Law
Universiteitsstraat 4
B-9000 Ghent
Tel: +32 (0)9 264 69 27; Fax: +32 (0)9 264 69 90
E-mail: Luc.Lavrysen@rug.ac.be
Users Committee
- R. Baert - Ministerie van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap - Afdeling Milieu Inspectie - Brussel
- Marc De Win - FOD Volksgezondheid, Veiligheid van de Voedselketen en Leefmilieu - Federale Diensten voor het Leefmilieu - Brussel
- Sara Ochelen - Ministerie van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap - AMINAL - Brussel
- An Van Damme - Brussels Instituut voor Milieubeheer (IBGE-BIM) - Brussel
- Peter Van Humbeeck - Sociaal Economische Raad van Vlaanderen - Brussel
Law & Economics en de handhaving van het milieurecht : eindrapport
Proost, S. - Lavrysen, L. Brussel : Federaal Wetenschapsbeleid, 2005 (SP1428)
[To download]
[To order]
Law & Economics et le respect du droit de l'environnement : résumé
Bruxelles : Politique scientifique fédérale, 2007 (SP1707)
[To download]
Law & Economics and the enforcement of environmental law : summary
Brussels : Belgian Science Policy, 2007 (SP1708)
[To download]
Law & Economics en de handhaving van het milieurecht : synthese
Brussel : Federaal Wetenschapsbeleid, 2007 (SP1709)
[To download]
