Econ Papers Daily / 期刊论文
污染预防能否提升企业效率？来自美国制造业企业的证据
Does Pollution Prevention Enhance Firm Efficiency? Insights from U.S. Manufacturing Firms
摘要
Pollution prevention is the EPA’s highest-priority approach to managing toxic chemicals, yet its effects on firm efficiency remain largely unexplored. We address this using a by-production stochastic frontier framework that models desirable output and emissions as linked but distinct production processes, allowing us to separately identify technical and environmental efficiency. The model is estimated across three broad U.S. manufacturing industries (NAICS 31, 32, and 33), using a panel of Compustat, TRI, and EPA P2 data over 1991–2016. Under maintained timing assumptions, we find that a 10% increase in cumulative source reduction improves technical efficiency by 0.09%–0.17% across industries, corresponding to $5.5–$11.2 million in additional real sales at the respective industry means. Source reduction also reduces environmental inefficiency in NAICS 32 and NAICS 33, implying reductions of 4,435–5,802 pounds of toxic releases at the industry means; the effect is not significant in NAICS 31. A disaggregated analysis reveals that different source-reduction activities operate through distinct channels, with material substitution as the most consistent driver of gains in both technical and environmental efficiency.
中文摘要
污染防治是美国环保署管理有毒化学品的最优先方法，然而其对厂商效率的影响在很大程度上仍未得到探索。我们通过一个副产品生产随机前沿框架来解决这一问题，该框架将期望产出与排放建模为相互关联但不同的生产过程，从而能够分别识别技术效率和环境效率。该模型基于1991年至2016年间Compustat、TRI和EPA P2数据的面板数据，在美国三大制造业（NAICS 31、32和33）中进行估计。在保持时间假设的前提下，我们发现累计源头削减增加10%可使各行业的技术效率提高0.09%至0.17%，对应各行业均值下额外实际销售额为550万至1120万美元。源头削减还降低了NAICS 32和NAICS 33中的环境无效率，意味着行业均值下有毒排放减少4，435至5，802磅；而在NAICS 31中该效应不显著。一项分解分析显示，不同的源头削减活动通过不同渠道发挥作用，其中材料替代是技术效率和环境效率提升最一致的驱动因素。