WHO WILL PAY FOR POLLUTION CONTROL? — THE DISTRIBUTION BY INCOME OF THE BURDEN OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION PROGRAM, 1972-1980

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Abstract
The incidence among income groups in the United States of the burden of the federally mandated environmental protection program is measured, based on cost estimates for the years 1972, 1976 and 1980. Costs in each year are divided among three major sectors of the economy according to where they fall in the first instance. With respect to each, a set of plausible assumptions is developed regarding how costs are likely to be paid for initially. A theory of incidence is then invoked to determine the distribution of costs among members of the population depending on their sources and uses of funds. Data in the Brookings Institution's MERGE Eile are used to distribute the burden among households by income class. The incidence of the total burden is mildly regressive in 1972, and more regressive than a general sales tax by 1980.

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