Information Disclosure Policy: Do States' Data Processing Efforts Help More than the Information Disclosure Itself?

34 Pages Posted: 20 Oct 2008 Last revised: 16 Nov 2022

See all articles by Hyunhoe Bae

Hyunhoe Bae

Syracuse University - Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs

Peter J. Wilcoxen

Brookings Institution

David Popp

Syracuse University - Department of Public Administration; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Date Written: October 2008

Abstract

The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) was expected to reduce health risks stemming from emissions of hazardous chemicals by increasing public pressure on polluters. However, it is a massive and complex dataset, requiring significant expertise to interpret in its raw form. State governments have attempted to mitigate the TRI's information processing burden on the public via two types of policies: (1) selection and dissemination of raw TRI data for plants within the state, and (2) data processing activities producing more refined reports and analysis. This study assesses the effectiveness of those policies. Our results show that state-level data dissemination efforts lowered the total number of pounds of chemicals released, but had little effect on health risks. State-level data processing efforts, in contrast, did lead to significant reductions in health risks. We conclude that simple dissemination of the data was ineffective (and even counterproductive in some instances), and that the states' data processing efforts have played a critical role in achieving the TRI's underlying goal.

Suggested Citation

Bae, Hyunhoe and Wilcoxen, Peter J. and Popp, David C., Information Disclosure Policy: Do States' Data Processing Efforts Help More than the Information Disclosure Itself? (October 2008). NBER Working Paper No. w14409, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1286413

Hyunhoe Bae

Syracuse University - Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs ( email )

400 Eggers Hall
Syracuse, NY 13244
United States

Peter J. Wilcoxen

Brookings Institution ( email )

1775 Massachusetts Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20036
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.brookings.edu/experts/wilcoxenp.aspx

David C. Popp (Contact Author)

Syracuse University - Department of Public Administration ( email )

Syracuse, NY
United States
315-443-2482 (Phone)
315-443-1075 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://faculty.maxwell.syr.edu/dcpopp/index.html

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States