Fuel Economy and Safety: The Influences of Vehicle Class and Driver Behavior
研究了美国燃油经济性标准如何通过改变车辆构成影响事故安全，发现每节省一加仑汽油会导致33美分的安全成本，并提出了两种抵消该效应的监管方案。
Fuel economy standards change the composition of the vehicle fleet, influencing accident safety. The direction and size of the effect depend on the combination of vehicles in the fleet. I provide empirical estimates of vehicle safety across classes, accounting for unobserved driving behavior and selection. I apply the model to the present structure of US fuel economy standards, accounting for shifts in the composition of vehicle ownership, and estimate an adverse safety effect of 33 cents per gallon of gasoline saved. I show how two alternative regulatory provisions fully offset this effect, producing a nearzero change in accident fatalities.