@article{Gray:280891,
      recid = {280891},
      author = {Gray, Wayne B. and Shabegian, Ronald J. and Wolverton,  Ann},
      title = {Environmental Justice: Do Poor and Minority Populations  Face More Hazards?},
      address = {2010-09},
      number = {2168-2018-8127},
      series = {10-10},
      pages = {35},
      year = {2010},
      abstract = {In this paper, we examine the large and expanding area of  Environmental Justice (EJ). The research in this area has  developed from examining relatively simple comparisons of  current demographic characteristics near environmental  nuisances to performing multiple regression analysis and  considering demographics at the time of siting. One area  that has received considerably less attention is the  identification of potential mechanisms that could be  driving observed EJ correlations. We extend the current  literature by examining one possible mechanism: the  intensity of regulatory enforcement activity. If regulators  pay less attention to the environmental performance of  plants located near poor and minority areas, those plants  might feel less pressure to pursue pollution abatement  projects, increasing environmental hazards in those areas.  We perform our analysis on a sample of manufacturing plants  located near four large U.S. cities: Los Angeles, Boston,  Columbus, and Houston. Our analysis of regulatory activity  found little evidence that demographic variables have a  significant impact on the allocation of regulatory  activity. In particular, regulatory activity does not seem  to be less intense in plants located near particular  demographic groups. It is true that plants located in  minority neighborhoods are inspected less often and face  fewer enforcement actions, but these effects are nearly  always small and insignificant, and plants located in  lower-income areas seem to face (surprisingly) more  regulatory activity. In a separate analysis, we also find  very little evidence that demographic variables  significantly influence pollution emissions. . In summary,  the results presented here do not show much evidence to  support EJ concerns about either regulatory activity or  pollution emissions, at least within the set of plants,  pollutants, and time periods covered in our analysis.},
      url = {http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/280891},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.280891},
}