SABIIA - Sistema Aberto e Integrado de Informação em Agricultura (Sabiia)

Kirkpatrick, Colin; Shimamoto, Kenichi.

This paper assesses the impact of environmental regulation in host countries on Japanese foreign direct investment (FDI) decision-making. It tests the pollution haven hypothesis using data on national environmental regulation standards and Japanese inward FDI in five dirty industries (iron and steel industry, non-ferrous metals industry, chemicals industry, paper and pulp industry, non-metallic products industry). The results do not support the pollution hypothesis. On the contrary, inward Japanese FDI appears to be attracted to countries which have committed themselves to a transparent and stable environment regulatory environment, suggesting that the quality of the regulatory framework in terms of its certainty and transparency has a greater influence on...

The Potential Cost to New Zealand Dairy Farmers from the Introduction of Nitrate-Based Stocking Rate Restrictions

Palavras-chave: Environmental regulation; Foreign direct investment; Japanese multinationals; Environmental Economics and Policy; International Relations/Trade; Q56; F21.

Ano: 2005

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/30584

Neal, Mark; Fulkerson, William; Levy, Gil; Wastney, Meryl; Thorrold, Bruce S.; Palliser, Chris; Beukes, Pierre; Folkers, Chris.

Introducing a stocking rate restriction is one possible course of action for regulators to improve water quality where it is affected by nitrate pollution. To determine the impact of a stocking rate restriction on a range of New Zealand dairy farms, a whole-farm model was optimised with and without a maximum stocking rate of 2.5 cows per hectare. Three farm systems, which differ by their level of feed-related capital, were examined for the changes to the optimal stocking rate and optimal level of animal milk production genetics when utility was maximised. The whole-farm model was optimised through the use of an evolutionary algorithm called differential evolution. The introduction of a stocking rate restriction would have a very large impact on the...

Border Enforcement and Firm Response in the Management of Invasive Species

Palavras-chave: Environmental regulation; Dairy farms; Whole-farm model; Evolutionary algorithm; Environmental Economics and Policy; Livestock Production/Industries; Q12; Q52; C61.

Ano: 2006

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/25620

Ameden, Holly A.; Cash, Sean B.; Zilberman, David.

This analysis presents a theoretical model of firm response to border enforcement and evaluates both the intended and unintended effects under two enforcement regimes: destruction versus treatment of contaminated shipments. The results indicate that importers may respond to increased inspection by reducing shipments and decreasing due care. In response to increased pest populations, firms may reduce shipments and increase due care, indicating that an enforcement response may not be necessary. The analysis reveals the importance of the nature of the due-care technology, as well as the relationships underlying the probability of detection, in determining the effects of enforcement.

Tipo: Journal Article

Palavras-chave: Border enforcement; Environmental regulation; Invasive species; Trade and environment; F18; L51; Q17; Q56; Q58.

Ano: 2007

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/37112

Intel's XL Permit: A Framework for Evaluation

Boyd, James; Krupnick, Alan J.; Mazurek, Janice V..

The paper develops a framework to evaluate permits granted to firms under the Environmental Protection Agency's Project XL -- with emphasis on the novel air permit granted to the Intel Corporation. We describe the permit, the process that created it, and the types of costs and benefits likely to arise from this type of "facility-specific" regulatory arrangement. Among other things, the paper describes the permit's impact on environmental quality, production costs, transaction costs, and Intel's strategic market position. The paper also considers how an estimate of the costs and benefits -- both to Intel and society -- might be estimated. While facility-specific regulation typically conjures images of production cost savings as processes are re-engineered...

A Reconsideration of Environmental Federalism

Palavras-chave: Project XL; Tailored regulation; Environmental regulation; Cost-benefit analysis; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies; L51; Q28; L63; K32.

Ano: 1998

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/10666

Oates, Wallace E..

This paper provides a review and assessment of the debate over environmental federalism-the issue of the roles of different levels of government in environmental management. The paper begins with the presentation of three benchmark cases that provide a framework for thinking about the issue. It then offers a review, first of the theoretical literature and second of some new, provocative empirical literature on the race to the bottom. The paper contends that there remains, under certain circumstances, an important role for decentralized government in the setting of environmental standards and the design of regulatory programs. The central government, in addition to setting standards for "national" pollutants, has a fundamental contribution to make in...

Using Environmental Benefit-Cost Analysis to Improve Government Performance

Palavras-chave: Environmental federalism; Environmental management; Environmental policy; Environmental regulation; Environmental Economics and Policy; Q2; H1; H7.

Ano: 2001

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/10460

Farrow, Scott; Toman, Michael.

In this paper we first describe the legal and administrative basis of mandates that variously require and eschew economic measures for environmental management. We then summarize the steps involved in benefit-cost analysis and what can and cannot be accomplished with such information. Our basic conclusion is that while the approach is not perfect, benefit-cost analysis has a solid methodological footing and provides a valuable performance measure for an important governmental function, improving the well-being of society. However, benefit-cost analysis requires analytical judgements which, if done poorly, can obfuscate an issue or worse, provide a refuge for scoundrels in the policy debate. We conclude the article with specific suggestions for both the...

Environmental Regulations and Agricultural Competitiveness

Palavras-chave: Benefit-cost analysis; Environmental regulation; Regulatory reform; Environmental Economics and Policy; Q28; D61; H43.

Ano: 1998

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/10598

Environmental Governance, Globalisation and Economic Performance

Colyer, Dale.

The cost of meeting environmental regulations can be a critical factor in determining the competitiveness of a product, since the cost advantages of producers in one country are often very slim. The existence of negative externalities means that prices are lower than would prevail if all costs where included in the prices of the products. Additional costs associated with new regulations have an effect on the continued importance of a country's agricultural exports. Governments often assist their agricultural sectors in overcoming the disadvantages through subsidies, tax breaks, technical assistance or other means. This assistance increasingly takes the form of green payments, which are currently exempt from the WTO limits imposed on domestic subsidies....

Tipo: Journal Article

Palavras-chave: Agricultural policy; Agricultural trade; Competitiveness; Environment; Environmental regulation; Environmental Economics and Policy.

Ano: 2004

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/23846

Tisdell, Clement A..

Increasing globalisation of economic activity and accompanying economic growth have been factors in the worldwide loss of natural environments and biodiversity loss, and these losses have accelerated since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, Emissions of many types of pollutants and wastes from human activity are rising globally and are exceeding the capacity of natural environments to absorb and neutralize them. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that the quality and size of some natural sinks for neutralizing them (such as forests) are declining. Consequently, these wastes are accumulating in many environments and pose a growing threat to human welfare and to sustainable economic development. There are, for instance, global concerns about...

'Green' Preferences as Regulatory Policy

Palavras-chave: Environmental economics; Environmental governance; Environmental law; Environmental regulation; Globalisation; Global warming; Greenhouse gases; Transboundary pollution; Transboundary natural resources.; Environmental Economics and Policy.

Ano: 2009

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/55341

Brennan, Timothy J..

We examine the suggestion that if consumers in sufficient numbers are willing to pay the premium to have power generated using low-emission technologies, tax or permit policies become less necessary or stringent. While there are implementation difficulties with this proposal, our purpose is more fundamental: can economics make sense of using preferences as a regulatory instrument? If"green" preferences are exogenously given, to what extent can or should they be regarded as a substitute for other policies? Even with green preferences, production and consumption of polluting goods continues to impose social costs not borne in the market. Moreover, if green preferences are regarded as a policy instrument, the "no policy" baseline would require a problematic...

Enforcing Environmental Regulation: Implications of Remote Sensing Technology

Palavras-chave: Environmental regulation; Preference change; Environmental Economics and Policy; Q2; B4; D6.

Ano: 2001

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/10787

MacAuley, Molly K.; Brennan, Timothy J..

We review economic models of environmental protection and regulatory enforcement to highlight several attributes that are particularly likely to benefit from new enforcement technologies such as remote sensing using satellites in space. These attributes include the quantity and quality of information supplied by the new technologies; the accessibility of the information to regulators, regulatees, and third parties; the cost of the information; and whether the process of information collection can be concealed from the observer. Satellite remote sensing is likely to influence all of these attributes and in general, improve the efficacy of enforcement.

Monitoring of compliance in Australian conservation contracts

Palavras-chave: Environmental regulation; New technologies; Remote sensing; Environmental Economics and Policy; Q2; Q28.

Ano: 1998

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/10464

Crowe, Bronwyn; White, Benedict; Pannell, David J.; Lindner, Robert K..

Government and non-government conservation agencies have long-term goals and objectives to provide environmental services, such as conserving the biodiversity of Australian native vegetation. In addition to national parks and reserves, private lands are often included in conservation programs to achieve these objectives. Formal contracts are entered into between the private landholder and the conservation agency to provide environmental services, or more commonly to provide inputs that are likely to lead to environmental services. The paper examines the costs and benefits of monitoring these conservation contracts when biodiversity change is stochastic.

Variation in Environmental Regulations in California and Effects on Dairy Location

Palavras-chave: Conservation; Compliance; Monitoring; Enforcement; Environmental regulation; Environmental Economics and Policy.

Ano: 2008

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/5990

Sneeringer, Stacy E.; Hogle, Regina.

In recent decades, urban encroachment and increasing environmental regulation have impacted California’s dairy industry. A complicated set of environmental legislation affects dairies in the state, and can differ depending on location, creating the possibility for within-state pollution havens. This article details the regional, state, and federal environmental regulation of California’s dairy industry, and examines data to see if it matches a hypothesis of regulation affecting dairy location. Using county-year data, we show evidence of changing dairy location within the state matching times of local legislative action. The Central Valley gained production, while the more regulated and urban-affected Los Angeles area lost. Large dairies have increased by...

Tipo: Journal Article

Palavras-chave: Pollution haven; California; Dairy; Environmental regulation; Environmental Economics and Policy; Livestock Production/Industries.

Ano: 2008

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/45667

Environmental regulation and international trade patterns for agro-industrial under a South-North Perspective

Feix, Rodrigo Daniel; Miranda, Silvia Helena Galvao de; Barros, Geraldo Sant'Ana de Camargo.

This paper aims at examining the relation between the international trade and the environment, particularly focused on sensitive agribusiness sectors. It consists on an empirical test to the conflicting positions supported by economists, some following the traditional approach (trade-off or neoclassical), while others supporting the Porter’s hypothesis, which considers that impacts of the stricter environmental regulation can benefit the trade competitiveness. A Heckscher-Ohlin- Vanek model was applied to net exports as the dependent variable. The agricultural products analyzed were total agriculture, rice, maize, soybean, wheat, dairy and swine; run for 97 countries, divided as developing and developed, in a cross-section approach. This modeling allows...

Cleaning Up the Nuclear Weapons Complex: Exploring New Approaches

Palavras-chave: Trade; Environmental regulation; Agribusiness; Environmental Economics and Policy; International Relations/Trade.

Ano: 2008

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/44329

Probst, Katherine N.; Pilling, Carolyn A.; Dunn, Karen T..

In recent years, policy experts have increasingly decried the "piecemeal" approach to environmental protection embodied in existing laws and regulations. This paper analyzes one aspect of the call for more integration: the feasibility and advisability of developing an integrated approach to regulating the cleanup of the nation's nuclear weapons complex. The Cold War has left an unprecedented set of difficulties at sites across the country where vast quantities of hazardous and radioactive materials must be properly managed. Regulatory fragmentation--particularly the phenomenon of multiple regulators and regulations driving the allocation of resources in an uncoordinated fashion--is nowhere more evident than in the current statutory and regulatory framework...

On the Dynamics of Competing Energy Sources

Palavras-chave: Nuclear weapons complex; Integration; Environmental law; Environmental regulation; Environmental Economics and Policy; H56; K32; Q28.

Ano: 1996

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/10765

Tsur, Yacov; Zemel, Amos.

We characterize the dynamics of energy markets in which energy is derived from polluting (fossil) and clean (solar) resources. The analysis is based on geometric optimal control considerations. An important feature of solar energy technologies is that their cost of supply is predominantly due to upfront investment in capital infrastructure (rather than to actual supply rate) and this feature has important implications for the market allocation outcome. In particular, it gives rise to a threshold behavior in that solar energy is adopted only when the price of fossil energy exceeds a certain threshold. Under this condition solar technologies will (eventually) dominate energy supply by driving fossil energy altogether out of the energy sector. A tax on fossil...

LOCATION OF PRODUCTION AND ENDOGENOUS WATER QUALITY REGULATION: A LOOK AT THE U.S. HOG INDUSTRY

Palavras-chave: Fossil and solar energy; Characteristic curves; Price thresholds; Environmental regulation; Environmental Economics and Policy; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies; Research Methods/ Statistical Methods; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy.

Ano: 2009

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/93127

Metcalfe, Mark R..

This paper examines the effect of state regulation of water quality on the location of hog production across states in the US. A qualitative measure is developed from states' water quality legislation in 1994 and 1998. No evidence is found that increased stringency is detrimental to hog production.

Location of Production and Endogenous Water Quality Regulation: A Look at the U.S. Hog Industry

Palavras-chave: Hog production; Environmental regulation; Environmental Economics and Policy; Livestock Production/Industries.

Ano: 1999

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/21631

Metcalfe, Mark R..

The U.S. hog industry is experiencing and increase in both the average size and geographical concentration of feeding operations. These increases have caused attention to focus on the environmental consequences of hog production and on the regulations imposed to limit these consequences. This study examines the effect that differences in state water quality regulations have on the location of hog production in the U.S. Farm size is an important characteristic and therefore this analysis is conducted separately on small and large farms in order to examine the differences in effects by sized of operation. Results suggest greater water quality regulatory stringency has no effect on the location of hog production. The amount of production on small feeding...

The Political Economy of Environmental Policy

Palavras-chave: Hog industry; Environmental regulation; Location of production; Environmental Economics and Policy; Livestock Production/Industries.

Ano: 1999

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/18430

Oates, Wallace E.; Portney, Paul R..

This paper provides a review and assessment of the extensive literature on the political determination of environmental regulation. A promising theoretical literature has emerged relatively recently that provides models of the political interaction of government with various interest groups in the setting of environmental standards and the choice of regulatory instruments. A large empirical literature supports such models, finding evidence of the influence of interest groups but also evidence that net social benefits are often an important determinant of environmental policy choices. We then take up the issue of environmental federalism and the large and growing theoretical literature that addresses the competitive "race to the bottom." The paper concludes...

SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES: HOW SHOULD GOVERNMENT COORDINATE FARM REGULATIONS AND POLICY?

Palavras-chave: Environmental regulation; Environmental management; Environmental policy; Environmental Economics and Policy; Q2; H1.

Ano: 2001

URL: http://purl.umn.edu/10849