INTER-INDUSTRY COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND THE GOVERNMENT: TWO CASE STUDIES

Two inter-industry research programs are discussed which were designed to generate necessary information for meeting Federal emission and fuel economy standards. The effects of traditional antitrust concerns on these activities are examined, as well as the effects of Congressional distrust of regulatory agency involvement in these research efforts. In 1968, the Air Pollution Research Advisory Council (APRAC) was set up within the Coordinating Research Council (CRC), which is jointly founded by the American Petroleum Institute and the Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association. Research programs were developed to study a variety of engineering, atmospheric, and medical problems. Among the results of the CRC-APRAC program are a standard driving cycle for measuring auto emissions, new measuring techniques for polynuclear aromatic compounds, and a better understanding of gasoline and diesel emission characteristics. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began a cooperative effort with the APRAC, an arrangement that was initially distrusted by public interest groups and later by the Senate Subcommittee on Air and Water Pollution. The Chairman of the Subcommittee, Senator Muskie, felt that this cooperative effort weakened public faith in EPA's ability to act objectively and independently as a regulatory agency. In late 1973, EPA withdrew from APRAC activities. The Inter-Industry Emission Control Program (IIEC) was organized in 1967 by Mobil Oil Company and Ford Motor Company (later joined by other petroleum and automobile companies) to conduct long-range research on development of low-emission, gasoline-powered vehicles. Although the IIEC program made numerous contributions to the technology of emissions control and fuel conservation, the Justice Department voiced concerns about restraint of trade in emission control devices and issued a consent decree to automakers. This action adversely affected IIEC progress by prohibiting exchange of condidential information on emission control devices among major automakers. It is concluded that in view of the broad-based membership of APRAC and IIEC, the general nature of their programs, and the public availability of all their information, the public might have been better served by a more sympathetic attitude on the part of Congress and the Justice Department.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Also published in HS-028 918, "Government, Technology, and the Future of the Automobile," New York, 1980 p 334-42. Presented at Harvard Business School Symposium on Government, Technology, and the Automotive Future, Boston, 19-20 October 1978.
• Corporate Authors:

  McGraw-Hill, Incorporated

  330 West 42nd Street
  New York, NY  United States  10036
• Authors:
  • Alpert, N
  • Holt, E L
• Publication Date: 1980

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: 9 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automobile industry; Cooperation; Exhaust gases; Federal government agencies; Regulations; Research
• Identifier Terms: Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards
• Uncontrolled Terms: Programs
• Subject Areas: Law; Research; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00393048
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-028 938
• Files: HSL, USDOT
• Created Date: Feb 28 1985 12:00AM