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Abstract
We propose a strategy for assessing how the inflow to the disability insurance program has been governed over time. Using ex-post mortality, we analyze the ex-ante health of individuals entering the program, compared to individuals not entering the program in the same year. Applying this strategy to Sweden, we find large variation in the relative health of new beneficiaries compared to non-beneficiaries over time. Some of the fluctuations correspond well to formal changes to screening stringency. However, we also find large variation in health during periods when no changes to formal eligibility criteria have been pursued.

AbstractWe construct a two-country trade model where emissions are an input in production and generate cross-border pollution. We examine the strategic incentives of an active regulator who sets a binding level of emissions in production. We show that, in the presence of terms of trade and emission leakage strategic motives, tighter regulation can mitigate emission leakage, reduce global pollution, and improve a country's welfare. This result and the corresponding policy implications depend on the relative magnitude of emissions intensities of goods between sectors and on their relationship in production and consumption.

PurposeTo construct an index (index of environmental sensitivity performance) to be used in a cross‐country trade model in order to analyze the effect of various degrees of environmental stringency on the trade patterns, and especially on the export performance of the countries.Design/methodology/approachThe gravity model of trade is used in order to find the effects of environmental stringency on the variation in trade flows.FindingsThe study shows that environmental stringency has an important impact on the export of the countries. The impact of the degree of environmental stringency on the exports is significantly negative suggesting an inverse relationship between export values and relative environmental sensitivity performance of the nations.Originality/valueThis study supports the argument that the environmental stringency level differential between developing and developed nations is a crucial criteria in terms of explaining shifts in the trade patterns and international specialization of the countries.

This paper assesses whether and to what extent income and the stringency and enforcement (S&E) of environmental regulation influence compliance with the EU Waste Hierarchy (EWH), i.e., how EU member states treat waste. The EWH prioritizes waste prevention and re-use over recycling, which is ranked above waste to energy (WtE), while incineration and landfilling are the least preferred options. Biennial panel data for the period 2010–2016 is used to create a compliance index based on the waste treatment alternatives in the EWH. The waste (excluding major mineral waste) of 26 European Union countries is examined. This study is the first of its kind to regress an EWH compliance index on income, the stringency and enforcement of environmental regulation, and other variables that are also expected to affect the relative benefits and costs of waste treatment, such as population density, heating demand, and electricity prices. The shares of landfilling, incineration, WtE, and recycling are also modeled to capture the effect of these variables in the waste treatment mix. The stringency and enforcement of environmental regulation are found to have a positive effect on compliance with the EWH, which has increased over time. ; JEL Classification: Q53, O44, R11

The aim of this paper is to assess whether and to what extent income and the stringency and enforcement (S&E) of environmental regulation influence compliance with the EU Waste Hierarchy (EWH), i.e., how EU member states treat waste. The EWH prioritizes waste prevention and re-use over recycling, which is ranked above waste to energy (WtE), while incineration and landfilling are the least preferred options. Biennial panel data for the period 2010–2016 is used to create a compliance index based on the waste treatment alternatives in the EWH. Waste (excluding major mineral waste) of 26 European Union countries is examined. This study is the first of its kind to regress an EWH compliance index on income, stringency and enforcement of environmental regulation, and other variables that are also expected to affect the relative benefits and costs of waste treatment, such as population density, heating demand, and electricity prices. The shares of landfilling, incineration, WtE, and recycling are also modeled to capture the effect of these variables in the waste treatment mix. The stringency and enforcement of environmental regulation are found to have a positive effect on compliance with the EWH, which has increased over time.

AbstractThe relative stringency of risk regulation across countries may have significant implications for public health and environmental outcomes, as well as for economic and trade impacts. In this study, we build on prior literature—which has often employed qualitative case studies, and has often focused on comparing the United States and Europe—by using a quantitative evidential reasoning approach to compare the relative stringency of federal/central level written rules for 45 randomly selected environmental risks in the United States and China. We find that, on average, in this sample of 45 environmental risks, the written rules for environmental risk regulation were more stringent in the United States than in China. Within this sample, we find that relative stringency was selective, leaning in both directions, as the United States and China each regulated some risks more stringently than the other; for example, the US written rules were more stringent for risks of toxic chemicals and most air pollutants, whereas China's written rules were more stringent for risks in agriculture. We also observe nuanced differences in relative regulatory stringency within sectors and risks; even where one country regulated one risk more stringently, the other country may regulate certain aspects of that risk more stringently. We comment on possible explanations for the patterns we observe. Our methods and findings may contribute to better understanding of comparative risk regulation across the United States and China, and worldwide. We also recognize that in addition to the written rules studied here, countries may also vary in their implementation.

t is not so easy to assess the relative efficacy of the various restrictive measures that were adopted to curb the spread of SARS-CoV-19. An approach is presented here that attempts to infer changes in contact rates from publicly available data. Though the method is very crude (essentially a 'hack') it seems to allow us to link national Covid-19-lockdowns and other measures (relaxations) to temporary changes in transmission rates. Events that are supposed to have increased transmission do not always show up so clearly. However, whatever its limitations, I argue that this method represents an encouraging way backward (in time). More importantly, we can correlate these measures with a published 'stringency index' of public health measures to curb Covid-19, to assess whether there is an effect on transmission. Despite the obvious shortcomings of both measures there is a clear negative correlation: the more stringent national measures are, the lower the estimated transmission rate.

t is not so easy to assess the relative efficacy of the various restrictive measures that were adopted to curb the spread of SARS-CoV-19. An approach is presented here that attempts to infer changes in contact rates from publicly available data. Though the method is very crude (essentially a 'hack') it seems to allow us to link national Covid-19-lockdowns and other measures (relaxations) to temporary changes in transmission rates. Events that are supposed to have increased transmission do not always show up so clearly. However, whatever its limitations, I argue that this method represents an encouraging way backward (in time). More importantly, we can correlate these measures with a published 'stringency index' of public health measures to curb Covid-19, to assess whether there is an effect on transmission. Despite the obvious shortcomings of both measures there is a clear negative correlation: the more stringent national measures are, the lower the estimated transmission rate.

This paper assesses whether and to what extent income and the stringency and enforcement (S&E) of environmental regulation influence compliance with the EU Waste Hierarchy (EWH), i.e., how EU member states treat waste. The EWH prioritizes waste prevention and re-use over recycling, which is ranked above waste to energy (WtE), while incineration and landfilling are the least preferred options. Biennial panel data for the period 2010–2016 is used to create a compliance index based on the waste treatment alternatives in the EWH. Waste (excluding major mineral waste) of 26 European Union countries is examined. This study is the first of its kind to regress an EWH compliance index on income, stringency and enforcement of environmental regulation, and other variables that are also expected to affect the relative benefits and costs of waste treatment like population density, heating demand, and electricity prices. In conjunction, the shares of landfilling, incineration, WtE, and recycling are also modeled to capture the effect of these variables in the waste treatment mix. Stringency and enforcement of environmental regulation have a positive effect on compliance with the EWH, which has increased over time.

Political context may play a large role in influencing the efficiency of environmental and health regulations. This case study uses data from a 1989 update of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Permissible Exposure Limits (PELS) program to determine the relative effects of legislative mandates, costly acquisition of information by the agency, and pressure applied by special interest groups upon exposure standards. The empirical analysis suggests that federal agencies successfully thwart legislative attempts to limit agency discretion, and that agencies exercise bounded rationality by placing greater emphasis on more easily obtained information. The 1989 PEL were less significantly related to more costly information, contained "safety factors" for chemicals presenting relatively more ambiguous risks, and the proposed standard stringencies showed evidence of beinginfluenced by vying industry and labor interests.

Just prior to the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit, China pledged to cut its carbon intensity by 40–45% by 2020 relative to its 2005 levels. This raises the issue of whether such a pledge is ambitious or just represents business as usual. To put China's climate pledge into perspective, this paper examines whether this pledge is as challenging as the energy-saving goals set in the 11th 5-year economic blueprint, to what extent it drives China's emissions below its projected baseline levels, whether China will fulfill its part of a coordinated global commitment to stabilize the concentration of greenhouse gas emissions at the desirable level, and whether it is conservative and there is room for further increase. Our balanced analysis of China's climate pledge challenges the views of both some Western scholars and the Chinese government regarding its ambition. Given that China's pledge is in the form of carbon intensity, the paper shows that GDP figures are even more crucial to the impacts on the energy or carbon intensity than are energy consumption and emissions data. Finally, the paper emphasizes that China's proposed carbon intensity target not only needs to be seen as ambitious, but more importantly it needs to be credible, and suggests that international climate change negotiations need to focus on 2030 as the targeted date to cap the greenhouse gas emissions of the world's two largest emitters in a legally binding global agreement.

This paper examines relative stock market performance following the onset of the coronavirus pandemic for a sample of 80 stock markets. Weekly data on coronavirus cases and deaths are employed alongside Oxford indices on each nation's stringency and government support intensity. The results are broken down both by month and by geographical region. The full sample results show that increased coronavirus cases exert the expected overall effect of worsening relative stock market performance, but with little consistent impact of rising deaths. There is some evidence of significantly negative stock market effects arising from lockdowns as reflected in the Oxford stringency index. There are also positive reactions to government support in March and December in the overall sample-combined with some additional pervasive effects seen in mid-2020 in Latin America.

ABSTRACTData for 425 sampling locations in England and Wales, covering the 1987 bathing season, were analysed against a range of six water‐quality standards used by European and North American agencies. The following order of relative stringency was established: EEC guide level > US Environmental Protection Agency† > Toronto†> Canadian Federal† > Modified EEC standard > EEC imperative level†.All European Community (EC) countries, at present abiding by the'imperative'bacteriological standards of the bathing waters Directive, would experience a significant increase in non‐compliance for the faecal coliform parameter if standards were altered from the current EEC imperative criteria to any of the existing alternative beach management standards.