The effects of the United States' government's regulation of the characteristics of motor vehicles, and its implications for Australia

Rice, Mark Henry. (1983). The effects of the United States' government's regulation of the characteristics of motor vehicles, and its implications for Australia Honours Thesis, School of Economics, University of Queensland.

       
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Author Rice, Mark Henry.
Thesis Title The effects of the United States' government's regulation of the characteristics of motor vehicles, and its implications for Australia
School, Centre or Institute School of Economics
Institution University of Queensland
Publication date 1983
Thesis type Honours Thesis
Total pages 132
Language eng
Subjects 14 Economics
Formatted abstract The U.S. Government used the characteristics of new motor vehicles as a target for regulation when it became concerned about the death rate in road accidents, air pollution and fuel consumption during the 1960s and 1970s. The type of regulation used by the U.S. Government influenced the overall levels of air pollution, fuel consumption and road deaths indirectly, by restricting the output of pollutants by new vehicles, by setting targets for the average fuel economy of new vehicles, and by requiring all new vehicles to meet minimum safety standards.

The purpose of this thesis is to identify the types of market failure the Government has tried to correct through regulation, and to explain why the type of regulation used was chosen over alternatives. To evaluate the current regulations, several chapters examine empirical studies of the effects of regulations. One of the difficulties in determining the ratio of benefits to costs of the current regulations is the problem of evaluating the benefits from the regulations, especially from the reduction in air pollution.

However, one of the conclusions about the costs of regulation is that alternative approaches could achieve similar results to the current regulations at a lower cost.

Another aspect of the regulation of the characteristics of motor vehicles is the apparent contradiction between the imposition of regulation which increases the costs of producers in this industry, and the expectation that an industry with a small number of producers should be able to avoid unfavourable government regulation. A number of factors have contributed to the ways in which the U.S. Government has regulated the motor vehicle industry, but the major reason for the regulation being apparently unfavourable to producers was that the Government acted hastily to try to rectify the problems associated with the use of motor vehicles, because it was under pressure from environmental and consumer groups to take action.

 
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Created: Tue, 23 Nov 2010, 11:41:41 EST by Muhammad Noman Ali on behalf of The University of Queensland Library