Question

5. Correcting for negative externalities - Regulation versus tradable permits

Suppose the government wants to reduce the total pollution emitted by three local firms. Currently, each firm is creating 4 units of pollution in the area, for a total of 12 pollution units. If the government wants to reduce total pollution in the area to 6 units, it can choose between the following two methods:

	Available Methods to Reduce Pollution
1.	The government sets pollution standards using regulation.
2.	The government allocates tradable pollution permits.

Each firm faces different costs, so reducing pollution is more difficult for some firms than others. The following table shows the cost each firm faces to eliminate each unit of pollution. For each firm, assume that the cost of reducing pollution to zero (that is, eliminating all 4 units of pollution) is prohibitively expensive.

Firm	Cost of Eliminating the...
	First Unit of Pollution	Second Unit of Pollution	Third Unit of Pollution
	(Dollars)	(Dollars)	(Dollars)
Firm X	80	130	210
Firm Y	550	700	1,075
Firm Z	75	90	130

Now, imagine that two government employees proposed alternative plans for reducing pollution by 6 units.

Method 1: Regulation

The first government employee suggests limiting pollution through regulation. To meet the pollution goal, the government requires each firm to reduce its pollution by 2 units.

Complete the following table with the total cost to each firm of reducing its pollution by 2 units.

Firm	Total Cost of Eliminating Two Units of Pollution
	(Dollars)
Firm X
Firm Y
Firm Z

Method 2: Tradable Permits

Meanwhile, the other employee proposes using a different strategy to achieve the government's goal of reducing pollution in the area from 12 units to 6 units. This employee suggests that the government issue two pollution permits to each firm. For each permit a firm has in its possession, it can emit 1 unit of pollution. Firms are free to trade pollution permits with one another (that is, buy and sell them) as long as both firms can agree on a price. For example, if firm X agrees to sell a permit to firm Y at an agreed-upon price, then firm Y would end up with three permits and would need to reduce its pollution by only 1 unit while firm X would end up with only one permit and would have to reduce its pollution by 3 units. Assume the negotiation and exchange of permits are costless.

Because firm Y has high pollution-reduction costs, it thinks it might be better off buying a permit from firm Z and a permit from firm X so that it doesn't have to reduce its own pollution emissions. At which of the following prices are both firm Z and firm X willing to sell one of their permits to firm Y? Check all that apply.

$124

$166

$200

$364

$475

Suppose the the government has set the trading price of a permit at $147 per permit.

Complete the following table with the action each firm will take at this permit price, the amount of pollution each firm will eliminate, and the amount it costs each firm to reduce pollution to the necessary level. If a firm is willing to buy two permits, assume that it buys one permit from each of the other firms. (Hint: Do not include the prices paid for permits in the cost of reducing pollution.)

Firm	Initial Pollution Permit Allocation	Action	Final Amount of Pollution Eliminated	Cost of Pollution Reduction
	(Units of pollution)		(Units of pollution)	(Dollars)
Firm X	2
Firm Y	2
Firm Z	2

Regulation Versus Tradable Permits

Determine the total cost of eliminating six units of pollution using both methods, and enter the amounts in the following table. (Hint: You might need to get information from previous tasks to complete this table.)

Proposed Method	Total Cost of Eliminating Six Units of Pollution
	(Dollars)
Regulation
Tradable Permits

In this case, you can conclude that eliminating pollution is less/more costly to society when the government distributes tradable permits than when it regulates each firm to eliminate a certain amount of pollution.

Answer 1

Method 1: Regulation

Firm	Total Cost of Eliminating Two Units of Pollution
	(Dollars)
Firm X	80+130=210
Firm Y	550+700=1250
Firm Z	75+90=165

Method 2: Tradable Permits

which of the following prices are both firm Z and firm X willing to sell one of their permits to firm Y? The values should be more than the firm's Z&X cost of eliminating 3rd unit of pollution that is more than 210 and 130 so check the following:

$364

$475

Suppose the the government has set the trading price of a permit at $147 per permit.

Firm	Initial Pollution Permit Allocation	Action	Final Amount of Pollution Eliminated	Cost of Pollution Reduction
	(Units of pollution)		(Units of pollution)	(Dollars)
Firm X	2	Don't buy/sell	2	80+130=210
Firm Y	2	Buy 1 permit	1	550
Firm Z	2	Sell 1 permit	3	75+90+130=295

Regulation Versus Tradable Permits

Proposed Method	Total Cost of Eliminating Six Units of Pollution
	(Dollars)
Regulation	210+1250+165=1625
Tradable Permits	210+550+295=1055

In this case, you can conclude that eliminating pollution is less costly to society when the government distributes tradable permits than when it regulates each firm to eliminate a certain amount of pollution.