Suchergebnisse

This thesis focuses on exacerbating chemicals risk in workplaces under the background of rapid industrialization in developing countries. The overall aim is to investigate the development of regulatory tools which aim at minimizing the health risks from chemical substances in the workplace. The contents of the thesis are divided into three sections: the profile of occupational diseases in China (paper I), occupational exposure limits (paper II and III), and comparison between chemicals regulat ions in Europe and China (paper IV). Paper I presents an analysis of the development of occupational diseases in China between 2000 and 2010. The number of recorded cases of occupational diseases increased rapidly in China during this period and the majority of cases were attributable to dust and other chemicals exposures. Difficulties in diagnosis and inefficient surveillance are major impediments to the proper identification and mitigation of occupational diseases. Migrant workers are extremely vulnerable to occupational hazards. Paper II investigates the state of harmonization of OELs between twenty-five OEL systems in Europe and Asia. The majority of the investigated organizations declare themselves to have been influenced by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH), and in many cases this can be empirically confirmed. However, large international differences still exist in substance selection and in the level of OELs among organizations. Paper III explores the setting of risk-based OELs on non-threshold carcinogens. Relatively few agencies set risk-based OELs. Differences exist in policy, both regarding the magnitude of risk considered as tolerable or acceptable and whether a general risk level or case-by-case substance-specific risk levels are determined. In regards to the level of the OELs both differences in science and policy contribute, and it was not possible to determine which has the larger influence. Paper III explores the setting of risk-based OELs on non-threshold carcinogens. ...

Congestion increases private transport costs and contributes to the decline of public transport service. While these two phenomena are logically connected, in most cities they are institutionally and financially separated. In principle, vehicular users of congested urban road space should be charged a price at least equal to the short-run marginal cost of use, including congestion, road wear and tear, and environmental impacts. Charging for road infrastructure is the core of a strategy for both efficient allocation of resources and sustainable finance. Cordon pricing and tolling of specific roads can be a step in the right direction, but the long-term solution lies in more systematic fields and congestion charges are only the part of them. It is recognized that introducing these charges is quite difficult, requiring policy maturity at both city and national levels, and careful technical, administrative and political preparation.

"Man of science should turn to the massive task of making more accessible our bewildering store of knowledge"Vannevar BushTraditionally, theories on regulation have suggested choosing the "right" regulatory tool for a given situation of desired behavioral steering, using a broad theoretical approach of understanding the factors involved in the regulatory realm and speculating from it toward the efficient choice.By contrast, this paper will argue that the process of choosing the "right" regulatory tool should be guided by an opposite process, in which a searchable database of regulatory case studies ("Global-Regulation") will be created. The institution (i.e., governments, regulation agencies, etc.) seeking to steer behavior using regulatory tools ("The Regulator") will search Global-Regulation using the specific characters of its situation (i.e., industry, regulationmethod, country, etc.), to find relevant case-studies that will lead to the best regulatory solution.It is assumed that this approach will establish regulation and regulatory tools as an empirical process of selection guided by a global accumulated body of knowledge, that will eventually create amore efficient and successful regulation and hence, desired behavior. The first part of this paper will provide an overview of regulatory learning. The second part will describe the Global-regulation database. The third partwill develop an example of the way in which case studies will be indexed into the Global-Regulation database. The fourth part will discuss the benefits of Global-Regulation to scholars and its symbiotic relationship with the research in the regulatory field. Finally, this paper will address possible problemswith the suggested system.

This paper analyses the proposed optional Common European Sales Law (CESL) as a regulatory tool. In principle, an optional CESL can be a sensible means to achieve some level of harmonization and the associated transaction costs savings plus network benefits and at the same time subject the CESL to a market test. However, whether these goals will actually be achieved depends on the design conditions and the content of the option. The CESL option which is currently on the table is harmful. The Draft CESL (DCESL) is a defective product. It might nevertheless become a success on the European market for contract laws or be at least highly influential as a reference text.