Title: How the level of census data and TRI releases affect empirical models estimating the amount spent on supplemental environmental projects

Authors: William B. Galose; Musa Essayyad

Addresses: Department of Accounting, Finance, and Economics, McNeese State University, Lake Charles, LA 70609, USA ' Department of Accounting, Finance, and Economics, McNeese State University, Lake Charles, LA 70609, USA

Abstract: This environmental finance paper estimates models of the amount spent on the Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs) included in the settlements of a sample of US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrative cases. Demographic variables were generally statistically significant in estimates of models employing US Census Bureau tract-level data for demographic variables. US Census Bureau block group data within a three-mile radius of the involved facility were obtained from US EPA Facility Reports. The block group data demographic variables were generally not statistically significant in models which were similar to the tract-level data models. The inclusion of TRI control variables did not substantially affect the results. Thus, when employing SEPs to finance environmental projects, the scale of demographic variables influences empirical models estimating the amount spent on SEPs.

Keywords: environmental finance; US Environmental Protection Agency; supplemental environmental projects; SEPs; environmental enforcement; environmental justice; restorative justice; environmental history; corporate social responsibility; ordinary least squares; OLS.

DOI: 10.1504/AJFA.2018.093639

American Journal of Finance and Accounting, 2018 Vol.5 No.4, pp.415 - 428

Received: 09 Apr 2018
Accepted: 09 Apr 2018
Published online: 30 Jul 2018 *

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