Dynamics in environmental legislation

Abstract

We analyze environmental laws and regulations enacted by 125 countries from 1990 to 2021. An examination of the legislation dynamics yields four principal observations. First, countries with a higher degree of development tend to enact more environmental legislation than less developed countries. Second, parliamentary systems are associated with a higher number of environmental regulations compared to presidential systems. Third, legal origin seems to be related to legislation dynamics. Systems of English legal origin generate less new environmental legislation than any other legal family. Fourth, our estimates point out that ruling parties have strong incentives to slow down the dynamics of environmental laws and regulations one year prior to the legislative elections. However, high levels of government effectiveness seem to favor the modernization of environmental legislation in developed countries and parliamentary systems.