Andy B. Anderson

Environmental Equity: The Demographics of Dumping

Research addressing “environmental equity” and “environmental racism” claims that facilities for treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous wastes (TSDFs) are located disproportionately in minority areas. In the first comprehensive study of TSDFs to use census tract-level data, we find no nationally consistent and statistically significant differences between the racial or ethnic composition of tracts which contain commercial TSDFs and those which do not. TSDFs are more likely to be found in tracts with Hispanic groups, primarily in regions with the greatest percentage of Hispanics. Different geographic units of analysis elaborate on, but are consistent with, these results.

Hazardous Waste Facilities "Environmental Equity" Issues in Metropolitan Areas

Recent widely publicized studies claim facilities for treatment, storage, and disposal of hazard ous wastes (TSDFs) are located in areas with higher than average proportions of minorities, thereby exposing minorities to relatively greater levels of potential risk. These claims have influenced national policies and public perceptions. This article revisits those claims in the first national study of TSDFs to use census tract-level data, finding no consistent and statistically significant differences in the racial or ethnic composition of tracts that contain commercial TSDFs and those that do not. Aggregating tracts surrounding TSDF tract locations, the authors find that the claims of the previous studies rest on using larger areal aggregates (zip code areas) on the peripheries of which the densities of minority populations are higher. The authors conclude that whether minorities are exposed to greater risk depends on how distance from TSDF sites is related to that nsk, an issue on which there is currently little knowledge.

DISARTICULATION AND HUMAN WELFARE IN LESS DEVELOPED COUNTRIES

Disarticulation refers to the juxtaposition of economic sectors with different levels of development and productivity. Disarticulation is hypothesized to have a negative effect on social well-being, net of economic development, because it inhibits the spread effects generally thought to be associated with economic growth. Findings are in accord with this hypothesis, although the relationship is complex. The strongest effects of disarticulation are found among the poorest nations. The concept of disarticulation opens a new and promising avenue of research that may help to resolve contradictory findings of recent research on the political economy of growth.

Missing data estimators in the general linear model: an evaluation of simulated data as an experimental design

Previous simulations have reported second order missing data estimators to be superior to the more straightforward first order procedures such as mean value replacement. These simulations however were based on deterministic comparisonsbetween regression criteria even though simulated sampling is a random procedure. In this paper a simulation structured asan experimental design allows statistical testing of the various missing data estimators for the various regression criteria as well as different regression specifications. Our results indicate that although no missing data estimator is globally best many of the computationally simpler first order methods perform as well as the more expensive higher order estimators, contrary to some previous findings.

Policy Experiments Selected Analytic Issues

Policy experiments represent a powerful tool for testing the consequences of contemplated social programs. However, experimentation in the policy field raises perplexing problems and issues, some of which are not commonly encountered in the literature of experimental social science. This paper examines several issues that seem particularly important and intriguing, drawing heavily on experiences in income maintenance experimentation, one of the largest efforts in policy experimentation to date.