The Role of the Social Capacity for Environmental Management in Air Pollution Control:

An Application to Three Pollution Problems in Japan

Abstract

This study evaluates the effect of the social capacity for environmental managements, as well as other economic factors, on air pollution reduction in 47 prefectures in Japan. This objective is achieved by using the 19-year panel data and the seemingly unrelated regression analysis. Our empirical results suggest that air pollution reductions associated with the social capacity for environmental management area greater than those with natural economic growth.