Spatial economic theory of pollution control: Reflections on a paradox

In their analyses of the impact of pollution taxation on the location of polluting decisions, U. K. Mathur (J. Environ. Econom. Management 3, 16–28 (1976)) and S. S. Gokturk (J. Reg. Sci. 19, 461–467 (1979)) obtained the result that a tax increase on urban pollution concentration may not succeed in pushing the polluting firm away from the urban center. In this paper is shown that the sufficient condition for success in this case depends upon the specification of the production and pollution emissions technology and may be the opposite to the one posited by Mathur and has more intuitive appeal.