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Man vs. Machine: Technological Promise and Political Limits of Automated Regulation Enforcement / Oliver Browne, Ludovica Gazze, Michael Greenstone, Olga Rostapshova.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Browne, Oliver.
- Series:
- Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w30816.
- NBER working paper series no. w30816
- Language:
- English
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);
- Place of Publication:
- Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2023.
- Summary:
- New technologies allow perfect detection of environmental violations at near-zero marginal cost, but take-up is low. We conducted a field experiment to evaluate enforcement of water conservation rules with smart meters in Fresno, CA. Households were randomly assigned combinations of enforcement method (automated or in-person inspections) and fines. Automated enforcement increased households' punishment rates from 0.1 to 14%, decreased summer water use by 3%, and reduced violations by 17%, while higher fine levels had little effect. However, automated enforcement also increased customer complaints by 1,102%, ultimately causing its cancellation and highlighting that political considerations limit technological solutions to enforcement challenges.
- Notes:
- Print version record
- January 2023.
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