Toxic exposure in America: estimating fetal and infant health outcomes

We examine the effect of toxic exposure on U.S. infant and fetal mortality rates between 1989 and 2002 from toxic pollution released by facilities reporting to the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). Unlike previous studies, we control for toxic pollution from mobile sources and from non-TRI reporting facilities. We find significant adverse effects of TRI exposure on infant mortality. There is evidence that health effects vary across media: air and water having a larger impact than land pollution. And, within air, we find that releases of carcinogens are particularly problematic for infant health outcomes. We estimate that the average county-level decreases in TRI concentrations between 1988 and 2002 saved in excess of 13,800 infant lives.Newborn infants - Mortality ; Public welfare

Environmental Regulation and Productivity: Evidence from Oil Refineries

We examine the effect of air quality regulation on the productivity of some of the most heavily regulated manufacturing plants in the United States, the oil refineries of the Los Angeles (South Coast) Air Basin. We use direct measures of local air pollution regulation in this region to estimate their effects on abatement investment. Refineries not subject to these local environmental regulations are used as a comparison group. We study the period of increased regulation between 1979 and 1992. On average each regulation cost $3M per plant on compliance dates and a further$5M per plant on dates of increased stringency. We also construct measures of total factor productivity using plant level data which allow us to observe physical quantities of inputs and outputs for the entire population of refineries. Despite the high costs associated with the local regulations, productivity in the Los Angeles Air Basin refineries rose sharply during the 1987 - 1992 period, a period of decreased refinery productivity in other regions. We conclude that measures of the cost of environmental regulation may be significantly overstated. The gross costs may be far greater than the net cost, as abatement may be productive.

#FeesMustFall# movement in the post-apartheid era: legitimacy battle for leaders

Purpose Underpinned by institutional legitimacy, this study explores how South African public university senior managers struggled to maintain legitimacy during an unplanned radical change process. Design/methodology/approach Gioia's grounded theory analysis approach is employed to analyse interviews with 37 senior managers of public-funded universities in South Africa. Findings This study's findings show that a change without proper planning severely damages institutions in all aspects of leadership's normative, empirical, moral and pragmatic legitimacy. Research limitations/implications This study contributes to the literature on legitimacy by illustrating the importance of institutional legitimacy during unplanned social change and the factors that negate legitimacy. Originality/value Though other legitimacy models have been well developed, they do not apply to such unplanned social change in organisations. This study shows a different angle of the legitimacy crisis under unplanned social change conditions

Toxic exposure in America: Estimating fetal and infant health outcomes from 14 years of TRI reporting

We examine the effect of exposure to a set of toxic pollutants that are tracked by the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) from manufacturing facilities on county-level infant and fetal mortality rates in the United States between 1989 and 2002. Unlike previous studies, we control for toxic pollution from both mobile sources and non-TRI reporting facilities. We find significant adverse effects of toxic air pollution concentrations on infant mortality rates. Within toxic air pollutants we find that releases of carcinogens are particularly problematic for infant health outcomes. We estimate that the average county-level decreases in various categories of TRI concentrations saved in excess of 13,800 infant lives from 1989 to 2002. Using the low end of the range for the value of a statistical life that is typically used by the EPA of $1.8M, the savings in lives would be valued at approximately$25B.Toxic Release Inventory Infant and fetal mortality Pollution