Improving Health and Environment in India: Paving the Way for Nationwide Expansion of Emissions Trading

Rohini Pande, Esther Duflo (MIT), Michael Greenstone (MIT) & Nicholas Ryan (Harvard)

Pollution concentrations in many developing countries exceed the highest levels ever recorded for rich countries. This directly worsens the health and life-expectancy of the poor and is also likely to reduce labor supply, growth and agricultural yield. Can market-based regulation reduce pollution in a cost-effective manner? In conjunction with India’s Ministry of Environment and Forests and State Pollution Control Boards, this project will evaluate the first emission trading system (ETS) in the developing world. Locally, the pilot will target particulate matter, by far the most problematic pollutant for health. The research will have a direct impact on policymaking in India through the demand-driven government partnership.

Funding:

World Bank, International Growth Centre, Italian Ministry of the Environment through the HKS Sustainability Science Program, MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research, J-PAL Governance Initiative

Related Publications:

What Does Reputation Buy? Differentiation in a Market for Third-party Auditors
Rohini Pande (with Esther Duflo, Michael Greenstone, and Nicholas Ryan)
American Economic Review, 103(3), May 2013

Truth-Telling by Third-party Auditors and the Response of Polluting Firms: Experimental Evidence from India
Rohini Pande (with Esther Duflo, Michael Greenstone, and Nicholas Ryan)
Working paper, 2012

Improving Human Health Through a Market-Friendly Emissions Scheme
Rohini Pande (with Michael Greenstone, Aparna Krishnan, Nicholas Ryan, and Anant Sudarshan)
Seminar Volume for International Seminar on Global Environment and Disaster Management: Law and Society, 2011

Towards an Emissions Trading Scheme for Air Pollutants in India
Rohini Pande (with Esther Duflo, Michael Greenstone, and Nicholas Ryan)
Discussion Paper, Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of India, 2010

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