Suchergebnisse

"Trade growth for a relatively poor country is thought to shift the composition of industrial output towards dirtier products, aggravating environmental damage. China's rapidly growing trade and serious environmental degradation appear to be no exception. However, much of China's trade growth is attributable to the international fragmentation of production. This kind of trade could be cleaner, if fragmented production occurs in cleaner goods, or if China specializes in cleaner stages of production within these goods. Using Chinese official environmental data on air and water pollution, and official trade data, we present evidence that (1) China's industrial output has become cleaner over time, (2) China's exports have shifted toward relatively cleaner, highly fragmented sectors, and (3) the pollution intensity of Chinese exports has fallen dramatically between 1995 and 2004. We then explore the role of fragmentation and FDI in this trend toward cleaner trade. Beginning with a standard model of the pollution intensity of trade, we develop a model that explicitly introduces production fragmentation into the export sector. We then estimate this model using pooled data on four pollutants over ten years. Econometric results support the view that increased FDI and production fragmentation have contributed positively to the decline in the pollution intensity of China's trade, as has accession to the WTO and lower tariff rates"--National Bureau of Economic Research web site

Some believe that relatively lenient environmental standards give developing countries a comparative advantage in pollution–intensive goods. Thus, freer trade will harm their environment. This paper brings together the literature on openness and growth, and on the environmental Kuznet's curve, to demonstrate that the opposite may be true. A simultaneous–equations system is derived which incorporates multiple effects of trade liberalization on the environment. Estimation using pooled provincial data on Chinese water pollution, suggests that freer trade aggravates environmental damage via the terms of trade, but mitigates it via income growth. Simulations suggest that the net effect in China was beneficial. JEL Classification: Fl3, Q28, 0l9 Est–ce que la libéralisation du commerce est nuisible pour l'environnement? Un nouveau test. Certains croient que des normes environnementales relativement peu contraignantes donnent un avantage comparatif aux pays en voie de développement dans la production de biens qui polluent intensivement. Donc, un commerce plus libre contribuera à nuire à l'environnement. Ce mémoire synthétise la littérature spécialisée sur l'ouverture des marchés et la croissance, ainsi que sur la courbe de Kuznets, pour montrer que l'inverse est vrai. On dérive un système d'équations simultanées qui incorpore les multiples effets de la libéralisation du commerce sur l'environnement. La calibration de ce système, en utilisant de manière intégrée les données provinciales de pollution de l'eau en Chine, suggère qu'un commerce plus libre aggrave l'état de l'environnement par le truchement du jeu des termes d'échange, mais que cet effet est mitigé par l'effet de croissance des revenus. Des simulations suggèrent que l'effet net en Chine est positif.

LAY SUMMARY Most research on military family health has involved talking to spouses, but what do military personnel think? Personnel may identify different issues that have not had the attention of research on armed forces. This study used the "Any other comments?" question in a military family survey to get their thoughts. Australian Defence Force regular and reserve personnel who were in the army, navy, or air force completed the survey. There were 264 personnel who talked about families, and key issues and views were identified from their responses. These included the challenge of living away from families for service reasons and a feeling of "talk, not action" on work and family balance. Responses revealed that non-family-friendly practices affected the health of families. They also caused personnel to leave regular service or the military altogether. Armed forces should work to match practices with policies. This study also shows how open-ended-comment questions in surveys are useful for research and give military personnel a chance to have their say.

Intro -- ECONOMIC GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE CARIBBEAN REGION -- ECONOMIC GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE CARIBBEAN REGION -- CONTENTS -- PREFACE* -- LIST OF FREQUENTLY USED ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS -- EXECUTIVE SUMMARY -- CURRENT LEVEL OF CARIBBEAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE -- REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE -- Impediments to Future Development -- Potential Policies for Economic Development -- Governmental Policies that Have Helped Overcome Diseconomies of Scale -- Increased Investment in Infrastructure and Skill Building Can Increase Growth and Reduce Poverty -- Export Diversification is Best Supported by Improving the Domestic Business Environment -- Trade Policy for Development -- Trade Liberalization Can Support Development -- U.S. Policies Can Stimulate Caribbean Services Exports -- CBERA Has Generally Increased Growth Despite Preference Erosion -- POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS BY INTERESTED PARTIES -- CBERA Has Been Beneficial to the Countries and the Region -- Value of Trade Preferences Is Being Reduced -- Market Access Provisions Should Be Renewed and Expanded -- Future U.S.-Caribbean Relations Should Be Broader and Deeper -- Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION -- PURPOSE, SCOPE, AND APPROACH OF BOOK -- Purpose -- Scope, Approach, and Organization of the Book -- U.S. TRADE PREFERENCES AVAILABLE TO CBERA COUNTRIES -- Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act -- Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act -- HOPE Act of 2006 -- Other Preference Programs Available to CBERA Countries -- MAJOR U.S. INSTITUTIONS AFFECTING TRADE AND ECONOMIC GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT IN CBERA COUNTRIES -- Chapter 2 CURRENT LEVEL OF CARIBBEAN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: REGIONAL OVERVIEW -- REGIONAL OVERVIEW -- POPULATION AND LEVELS OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT -- INDICATORS OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT -- MACROECONOMIC CONDITIONS AND PERFORMANCE.

Abstract
As multilateral negotiations focus more on reductions and removal of non-tariff barriers (NTBs), the importance of quantifying the impact of these barriers has increased. Recent studies have derived ad valorem equivalents for NTBs for a large number of countries and/or products, but the derivation has been indirect, due to either lack of price data or NTB incidence measures. This paper uses city level retail price data to directly estimate the average impact of core NTBs on prices of 47 consumer products, grouped into four separate sectors, for more than 60 countries in 2001. The analysis uses both government self-reported data and a new database of private sector complaint data to assess NTB incidence. A differentiated products model is used to capture imperfect substitutability between products. With city level price data—including both inter- and intra-country price differences—a more precise distinction can be made between the impact of NTBs and the impact of local distribution costs in raising price. The model is estimated using an instrumental variables approach to incorporate the endogeneity of NTBs. Results suggest that core NTBs are still highly restrictive in many countries and for many traded goods. While NTBs appear to be complements to tariffs, in some sectors the presence of a tariff reduces the price impact of the NTB. Results also suggest that in some sectors, the restrictiveness of NTBs is highly correlated with country income.