Environmental Compliance Costs and the Distribution of Emissions in the U.S.
利用基尼系数构建结构模型，评估环境合规成本统一变化对美国各县和州人均排放分布的影响，发现联邦统一标准对减少环境危害分布不平等作用有限，甚至可能加剧空间不平等。
Using the properties of the Gini coefficient, a structural model is developed to assess the impact of uniform changes in environmental compliance costs on the distribution of per capita emissions across U.S. counties and states, a distribution that places a larger burden on minorities. Using data from the U.S. EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory and three state‐specific measures of environmental compliance costs, we find that uniform increases in federal environmental standards have little impact on the distribution of environmental hazards, and may actually exacerbate spatial inequality. As a result, Federal standards that target specific high pollution locations are necessary to redress current inequities.