A Spatial Model of Regulation

This article outlines and tests a spatial model of regulation that contends that federal regulatory officials fashion enforcement strategies that fit each state's political climate. A pooled cross-sectional, time series design is used to examine the influence of both national and state forces on the rate of federal surface mining regulation in 21 states over the period 1978 to 1982. Although the rate of federal regulation reflects national political changes, much of the variation in enforcement is accounted for by the states' political climates. State-level factors prove to be particularly important during the more politically vulnerable Carter administration. Those findings suggest that scholars need to attend to spatial influences in accounting for regulatory outcomes.