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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Economics

Selected Works

Thomas C. Kinnaman

Selected Works

2010

Articles 1 - 5 of 5

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

The Costs Of Municipal Curbside Recycling And Waste Collection, Thomas C. Kinnaman Aug 2010

The Costs Of Municipal Curbside Recycling And Waste Collection, Thomas C. Kinnaman

Thomas C. Kinnaman

This paper estimates cost functions for both municipal solid waste collection and disposal services and curbside recycling programs. Cost data are obtained from a national survey of randomly selected municipalities. Results suggest, perhaps unsurprisingly, that both marginal and average costs of recycling systems exceed those of waste collection and disposal systems. Economies of scale are estimated for all observed quantities of waste collection and disposal. Economies of scale for recycling disappear at high levels of recycling - marginal and average cost curves for recycling take on the usual U-shape. Waste and recycling costs are also estimated as functions of factor …


Optimal Solid Waste Policy With Centralized Recycling Opportunities, Thomas C. Kinnaman May 2010

Optimal Solid Waste Policy With Centralized Recycling Opportunities, Thomas C. Kinnaman

Thomas C. Kinnaman

Economic models have demonstrated the efficiency of curbside collection taxes. This paper demonstrates that such efficiencies disappear in economies with centralized recycling options - where recyclable materials can be removed from the waste stream either by households or at a centralized recycling facility. In such economies a curbside garbage tax not only fails to encourage the centralized recycler to internalize the external costs of waste disposal, but introduces inefficiencies to the cost-minimizing mix of household and centralized recycling efforts. The optimal waste policy is a tax assessed further downstream at the landfill rather than at the curb.


The Economic Impact Of Shale Gas Extraction: A Review Of Existing Studies, Thomas C. Kinnaman Dec 2009

The Economic Impact Of Shale Gas Extraction: A Review Of Existing Studies, Thomas C. Kinnaman

Thomas C. Kinnaman

No abstract provided.


Global Reuse And Optimal Waste Policy, Thomas C. Kinnaman Dec 2009

Global Reuse And Optimal Waste Policy, Thomas C. Kinnaman

Thomas C. Kinnaman

No abstract provided.


The Optimal Recycling Rate, Thomas C. Kinnaman Dec 2009

The Optimal Recycling Rate, Thomas C. Kinnaman

Thomas C. Kinnaman

No abstract provided.