Abuses in Fuel Markets: How to Protect Consumers and Public Health

In the fuel business, smuggling, adulteration, mislabeling, and short-weighting are widespread in many developing counties. Not only do these commercial abuses reduce consumer welfare and government excise revenue but the combustion of substandard fuels can have a serious public health impact. This Note looks at how the structure of the fuel industry affects incentives for such abuses and shows how some developing countries have worked to combat the practices.