Estimating the Hidden Costs of Environmental Regulation
利用55家钢铁厂的数据，发现环境合规的显性成本每增加1美元，总成本边际增加10-11美元，其中9-10美元隐藏在其他账户中，说明会计系统严重低估了环境规制的真实成本。
This paper examines the extent to which accounting systems separately identify all the costs of environmental regulation. We estimate the relation between the “visible” costs of regulatory compliance (costs that firms' accounting systems correctly classify as “environmental”) and “hidden” environmental costs embedded in other accounts. We use plant-level data from 55 steel mills to estimate hidden costs, and we follow up with structured interviews of corporate-level managers and plant-level accountants. Empirical results show that a $1 increase in the visible cost of environmental regulation is associated with an increase in total cost (at the margin) of $10–$11, of which $9–$10 are hidden in other accounts. The findings suggest that inappropriate identification and accumulation of the costs of environmental compliance are likely to distort costs in firms subject to environmental regulation.