Public Disclosure of Industrial Pollution:The PROPER Approach for Indonesia?

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Date

Oct. 5, 2004

Authors

Jorge López, Thomas Sterner, and Shakeb Afsah

Publication

Working Paper

Reading time

1 minute

This paper evaluates the effectiveness of the Program for Pollution Control Evaluationand Rating (PROPER) in Indonesia. PROPER, the first major public disclosure program in thedeveloping world, was launched in June 1995; though it collapsed in 1998 with the Asianfinancial crisis, it is currently being revived. There have been claims of success for thispioneering scheme, yet little formal analysis has been undertaken. We analyze changes inemissions concentrations (mg/L) using panel data techniques with plant-level data forparticipating firms and a control group. The results show that there was indeed a positiveresponse to PROPER, especially among firms with poor environmental compliance records. Theresponse was immediate, and firms pursued further emissions reductions in the following months.The total estimated reductions in biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygendemand (COD) were approximately 32%.

Topics

Data and Decision Tools

Authors

Jorge López

Thomas Sterner

University Fellow

Thomas Sterner is a university fellow at RFF. His work is focused on the design of policy instruments to deal with resource and environmental problems.

Shakeb Afsah

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