Explain: “Without a market for pollution rights, dumping pollutants into the air or water is costless; in the presence of the right to buy and sell pollution rights, dumping pollutants creates an opportunity cost for the polluter.” What is the significance of this opportunity cost to the search for better technology to reduce pollution?

Microeconomics
13th Edition
ISBN:9781337617406
Author:Roger A. Arnold
Publisher:Roger A. Arnold
Chapter17: Market Failure: Externalities, Public Goods, And Asymmetric Information
Section17.3: Environmental Policy
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Explain: “Without a market for pollution rights, dumping pollutants into the air or water is costless; in the presence of the right to buy and sell pollution rights, dumping pollutants creates an opportunity cost for the polluter.” What is the significance of this opportunity cost to the search for better technology to reduce pollution?

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