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Full-Text Articles in Law
Sustainable Development: A Five-Dimensional Algorithm For Environmental Law, J.B. Ruhl
Sustainable Development: A Five-Dimensional Algorithm For Environmental Law, J.B. Ruhl
Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications
This article describes sustainable development as involving five dimensions: environment, economy, equity, time, and space (or scale). I suggest that the complexity inherent in balancing these five dimensions demand algorithmic approaches like those being explored in complex adaptive systems theory.
Are Risk Regulators Rational? Evidence From Hazardous Waste Cleanup Decisions, W. Kip Viscusi, James Hamilton
Are Risk Regulators Rational? Evidence From Hazardous Waste Cleanup Decisions, W. Kip Viscusi, James Hamilton
Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications
Using original data on the cleanup of 130 hazardous waste sites, we examine the degree Superfund decisions are driven by efficiency concerns, biases in risk perceptions, and political factors. Target risk levels chosen by regulators are largely a function of political variables and risk perception biases. Regulators exhibit biases consistent with anchoring and the availability heuristic, and do not distinguish between current risks to actual residents and potential risks to hypothetically exposed populations. Quantile regressions indicate that political factors affect decisions on the cost per case of cancer averted, especially for the most inefficient cleanup efforts.