Pollution control in Sao Paulo, Brazil : costs, benefits and effects on industrial location
THOMAS, V.
This paper presents a cost-benefit framework to analyze pollution control policies, and sets out some preliminary order-of-magnitude level estimates. Available evidence points to large damages from pollution in terms of the detrimental effects on human morbidity and mortality, particularly in the highly contaminated and heavily populated districts of Sao Paulo. In capturing the implied benefits through pollution abatement, however, heavy costs will be incurred, unless a selective approach is adopted. Such an approach would be discriminatory with respect to the group of industries and types of areas targeted for regulation and the nature of controls imposed on pollution. Spatial non-uniformity of the desired strategy can lead to induced changes in industrial location. Such a redistribution of output away from the heavily damaged and densely inhabited population centers to areas better capable of absorbing pollution could be welcome. This indirect effect on manufacturing location is generally preferable to policies that directly limit growth in production in certain places as a means to improve environmental quality.
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