Informal sector pollution control: What policy options do we have?

In developing countries, urban clusters of informal firms such as brick kil ns and leather tanneries can create severe pollution problems, These firms are, however, quite difficult to regulate for a variety of technical and po litical reasons. Drawing on the literature, this paper first develops a lis t of feasible environmental management policies. It then examines how these policies have fared in four independent efforts to control emissions from informal brick kilns in northern Mexico. The case studies suggest that: (a) conventional command and control process standards are generally only enfo rceable when buttressed by peer monitoring, (b) surprisingly, clean technol ogies can be successfully diffused even when they raise variable costs, in part because early adopters have an economic incentive to promote further a doption,(c) boycotts of "dirty" goods sold in informal markets are unenforc eable, (d) well, organized informal firms can block implementation of costl y abatement strategies such as relocation and (e) private sector-led initia tives may be best suited for informal sector pollution control. (C) 2000 El sevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.