Hazardous Waste Lawsuits, Stockholder Returns, and Deterrence

For the RCRA and Superfund Acts, the publicly announced desired effects are the protection of the public and natural resources from, and ultimate cleanup of, hazardous waste materials. If the regulations are working, firms are being deterred from illegal disposal of wastes. If not, the regulations are providing only illusions of improved safety, while the public actually faces a never ending process of site discovery and cleanup. While not addressed in previous empirical literature, the deterrent effects of the RCRA and Superfund Acts are the focus of this paper. The deterrent effects of the RCRA and Superfund Acts stem from the potential for suits against responsible parties seeking an end to violations, site cleanup, and reimbursement for expenditures and damages. This paper measures the impact of hazardous waste mismanagement lawsuits on stockholder returns. Specifically, the standard event-study method is used to directly measure the abnormal losses suffered by stockholders associated with lawsuit filings and settlements between 1977 and 1986.