Public Goods Provision: Lessons from the Tellico Dam Controversy

Posted: 12 Oct 2004

See all articles by Louis P. Cain

Louis P. Cain

Northwestern University

Brooks Kaiser

University of Southern Denmark - Department of Environmental and Business Economics; Gettysburg College - Department of Economics; University of Hawaii - Economic Research Organization (UHERO)

Abstract

Although absent from the initial Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973, evidence of economic considerations first appeared in the 1978 amendments. The only controversial vote concerning the ESA was the one to exempt the Tellico Dam (1978). Although the dam was a local project with little expected net benefit, this article argues that broader economic considerations mattered. Working from public choice models for congressional voting decisions, a limited dependent variable regression analysis indicates the economic variables with the most explanatory power for this environmental decision are college education, poverty, the designation of critical habitat within a district, the number of endangered species in the state, dollars the state received due to earlier ESA funding, and the percentage of the district that is federal land. Comparisons with aggregated environmental votes in the same year highlight the intensity of economic considerations in the Tellico case. Our results imply that the ESA's prohibitions have worked successfully to give weight to nonquantifiable and dispersed benefits in the face of concentrated and visible costs.

Suggested Citation

Cain, Louis P. and Kaiser, Brooks and Kaiser, Brooks, Public Goods Provision: Lessons from the Tellico Dam Controversy. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=601782

Louis P. Cain (Contact Author)

Northwestern University ( email )

2001 Sheridan Road
Evanston, IL 60208
United States

Brooks Kaiser

Gettysburg College - Department of Economics ( email )

United States

University of Southern Denmark - Department of Environmental and Business Economics ( email )

DK-5230 Odense
Denmark

University of Hawaii - Economic Research Organization (UHERO) ( email )

2424 Maile Way, Saunders 540
Honolulu, HI 96822
United States

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