Affiliations: [a] Center for Economic Studies, US Census Bureau,
Washington, DC 20233-6300, USA | [b] University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, Department
of Economics, North Dartmouth, MA 02747, USA | [c] National Center for Environmental Economics, US
Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC 20460, USA
Correspondence:
[*]
Corresponding author: Randy A. Becker, Center for
Economic Studies, US Census Bureau, 4700 Silver Hill Road, Stop 6300,
Washington, DC 20233-6300, USA. Tel.: +1 301 763 1891; Fax: +1 301 457 1235;
E-mail: randy.a.becker@census.gov
Abstract: Since 1973, the Pollution Abatement Costs and Expenditures (PACE) survey has been
the principle source of information on US industries' capital expenditure and
operating costs associated with pollution abatement efforts. The PACE survey was
discontinued after 1994 and then revived and substantially revised in 1999,
making longitudinal analysis quite difficult. Conceptual differences include
matters as fundamental as the scope and meaning of pollution abatement as well
as the definition of operating costs. Other critical changes include industrial
coverage and sample selection. This paper is the first to comprehensively
document the many changes in the PACE survey across these years and to provide
detailed guidance to researchers and policymakers wishing to compare the 1994
and 1999 data. Overall, we find environmental spending by the manufacturing
sector declined 27% between these years, with significant heterogeneity across
industries. We discuss potential reasons for this dramatic decline, focusing
mainly on survey methodology and design.
