Anna Rita Germani

Individual and group behaviour in the traveler's dilemma: An experimental study

We provide an experimental test of the travelers dilemma using individual and group data. Our investigation aims to assess whether individual decisions differ significantly from group decisions. Experimental findings reported in this paper show that: (1) groups are always more rational – i.e. their claims are closer to the Nash equilibrium; (2) the size of the penalty/reward influences convergence to the equilibrium both when decisions are taken individually or in groups; and (3) groups are more sensitive to the size of the penalty/reward.

Criminal sanctions for agricultural violations of the Clean Water Act

Public enforcement of the Clean Water Act (CWA) has been characterized by the increased use of criminal sanctions over the past decade. This sanctioning trend has developed in direct response to the passage of the Sentencing Reform Act (SRA) as part of the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984. New sentencing guidelines were established in 1987 under which courts were required to impose sentences which reflect the seriousness of the offense, provide just punishment for the offense, and afford adequate deterrence to criminal conduct. Legal trends are documented for both industrial and agricultural violations as a result of applying the new federal sentencing guidelines to CWA cases. The efficiency implications of the SRA are evaluated in the context of a model of the public enforcement of environmental law. It is concluded that fault-based standards of liability and the use of mixed fine/incarceration sanctions are appropriate for agricultural violations of the CWA.

Victims in the ‘Land of Fires’: Illegal Waste Disposal in the Campania Region, Italy

The ‘Land of Fires’ indicates an area in Campania, in the south of Italy, where, systematically, since the end of the 1980s, toxic wastes have been illegally burned and buried. Organized mafia-like crime plays a significant role in the illegal management of waste in this area; however, organized mafia-like criminals are not the only players. Although in the public opinion the mafia clans are the most important subjects involved in the illegal waste business, a significant role is also played in this field by many businessmen, firms, and bureaucrats. Corruption is a crucial element that connects all these actors in the waste sector, characterized by the grant of public licenses and authorizations. All these conditions hamper the competition and facilitate the creation and the development of oligopolistic forces, where the strength of mafia intimidation turns out to be particularly effective. The weak enforcement power at both national and regional levels has been used to explain this widespread illegal situation, but responsibilities actually lie at various governance levels, spanning from inefficient bureaucracy to political patronage and criminal malfeasance. Moreover, the lack of adequate (and effectively enforced) waste management policies has created institutional and regulatory uncertainty, which has fostered the illegal market of waste. On these premises, the case study shows the role that local associations and organizations have played in the land of fires becoming a reference point for the victims of those waste-related environmental crimes. The findings obtained throughout the development of an affiliation network analysis allow us to say that victims are strengthening their relationships with local associations in the network and are starting to reinforce their sociopolitical and judicial actions. The increasing level of victims’ organizational activities in the land of fires from 2008 up to now is, in fact, creating public awareness on the impacts of illegally disposing and burning of waste, thus shedding light on the capacity of civil society to influence policy changes and decision makers at national level.

Summary of Findings and the Way Forward

In this final chapter, the main findings of the cases studies are reviewed and summarized, highlighting differences and similarities and drawing policy lessons for national and EU policy-makers. A first step in studying the environmental crimes addressed by the different case studies was to understand the nature, the aetiology, and the illegal reality around them. The core focus of the case studies was not only to investigate causes and motivations of illegal environmental misconducts looking at the behaviours of offenders and responsible for harms and crimes in question, but also to shed some light on the victims of environmental crimes and how they are victimized. Often perceived as ‘victimless’, in fact, environmental crimes often do not have immediate consequences and the harm may be diffused or go undetected for several years but the cumulative impact of repeated violations in the long-run can be irreparable. Some of the case studies demonstrated, moreover, that enforcement of laws is inadequate to deal with the fight against environmental crimes. At the European level and beyond, efforts to tackle environmental crimes have often been offset by an unsystematic and heterogeneous enforcement approach where the deputed agencies and institutions approach environmental crime without really reducing the dimensions and the magnitude of the phenomenon. The implications of the above multifaceted analysis are drawn for suggesting some policy-making recommendations. It is hoped that the book will contribute to a greater awareness and a critical understanding of how the framework and institutions of environmental policy-making can be improved, at the national and European level.