RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Certainty of Punishment versus Severity of Punishment
JF Land Economics
JO Land Econ
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 245
OP 264
DO 10.3368/le.030521-0024R1
VO 99
IS 2
A1 Earnhart, Dietrich
A1 Friesen, Lana
YR 2023
UL http://le.uwpress.org/content/99/2/245.abstract
AB According to the standard enforcement model, key deterrence components are punishment certainty and severity. Theory predicts the relative efficacy of certainty versus severity, but empirical and experimental evidence are mixed. Our study is the first to systematically compare the effects of certainty and severity in the environmental protection context. Our empirics examine wastewater discharged by chemical manufacturing facilities permitted under the Clean Water Act. We find that when enforcement certainty and severity are high, both components effectively deter pollution, with certainty being more effective. In contrast, certainty and severity increases prove counterproductive when certainty and severity are low.