Professor of Economics Dr. Israel Waichman publishes new research in Environmental and Resource Economics on environmental regulations and low-pollution technologies

A recent experimental study by Lidia Vidal-Meliá (University Jaume I, Castellón), Eva Camacho-Cuena (University Jaume I, Castellón), Till Requate (Kiel University), and Israel Waichman (Bard College Berlin) investigates how the timing and commitment of environmental regulation, specifically emission taxes and tradable permits, affect firms’ adoption of low-pollution technologies.

Key findings:

• The timing of regulation (whether set before or after firms’ technology decisions) does not significantly impact the adoption of advanced, low-emission technologies.
• Both emission taxes and tradable permits lead to technology adoption levels close to the social optimum.
• Tax policies slightly outperform permit policies in terms of static efficiency, but overall efficiency remains high across all scenarios.

This research provides experimental evidence on the effectiveness of different regulatory approaches in encouraging cleaner technology adoption, offering insights for policymakers designing market-based environmental instruments.

Read the full open-access article through Springer Nature here.

Post Date: 04-28-2026