A sociological assessment of economic incentives for industrial pollution abatement

Abstract The ‘resource charge” and “abatement subsidy” approaches to industrial pollution control are assessed as alternatives to the current policy of “judicial action.” Economic theory, which approaches abatement from a “non-crisis” position tends to support the charge alternative due to its economic efficiency. When assessing abatement from a “crisis” perspective, however, such non-economic factors as time, political manipulation, and public support become important. Behaviorist literature suggests that policy based on positive rather than negative reinforcement (or incentive) may be more applicable under crisis conditions. Thus, it is concluded that a subsidy program (based on positive reinforcement) may be the more adequate policy for bringing about short-run change.