Economic impact in the United States from banning hazardous electronic waste exports

Abstract

Scope and Method of Study: The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the effect on U.S. economic welfare of ratifying the Basel Ban on exports of electronic waste. The dissertation structured the problem as a model of the market for waste disposal services, where the United States is viewed as an importer of waste disposal services. The model implies that the United States would suffer net social costs as a result of the Basel Ban. The net social loss from adopting the Basel BAN was determined by estimating and comparing the costs of three scenarios for managing electronic waste that would not be exported and the costs of importing waste disposal services. These scenarios represent the probable range of options and costs.

Findings and Conclusions: In Scenario 1 the United States would save more in costs of exporting than the costs of managing the waste domestically; that is, adoption of the Basel Ban would improve domestic economic welfare. In the more probable Scenario2, and in Scenario 3, both the net social cost and the net social cost per job created are positive. The latter, however, appears to be modest in comparison with other instances of restraints on trade.