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What makes a ban on plastic bags effective? The case of Nepal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 October 2019

Bishal Bharadwaj Open the ORCID record for Bishal Bharadwaj [Opens in a new window] ,
Jean Marie Baland  and
Mani Nepal
Bishal Bharadwaj*
Affiliation:
Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration, Government of Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal School of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Jean Marie Baland
Affiliation:
CRED, Department of Economics, University of Namur, Namur, Belgium
Mani Nepal
Affiliation:
South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics at International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Lalitpur, Nepal
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: b.bharadwaj@uq.edu.au
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Abstract

The extensive use of plastic bags in Nepal has led to growing concern in recent years. We investigate the impact of a municipal plastic bags ban on bags use behavior, based on a field survey carried out among consumers and retailers across selected municipalities. Our results indicate that the effectiveness of the ban critically depends on its enforcement and sanctioning system. In particular, our results suggest that the perceived sanction is a critical determinant of plastic bags use, as a doubling of the perceived sanction could reduce plastic bags use by two-thirds for retailers and by one-half for consumers. While the nominal amount of the fine does not seem to play a role, the probability of being detected appears to play a key role in the perceived sanction. This implies that effective monitoring of the ban by the municipal authorities is critical for the success of the policy.

Keywords

plastic bag banperceived sanctionconsumersretailersNepal
Type
Research Article
Information
Environment and Development Economics , Volume 25 , Issue 2 , April 2020 , pp. 95 - 114
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

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