Suchergebnisse

This textbook demonstrates how economic theories can be used for environmental policy evaluations. A notable feature of this book is that, unlike most textbooks in environmental economics written in English, it draws on examples from Japan's policy on energy, resource, pollution, and carbon emissions. Policy measures discussed in this book include controls on motor vehicle emissions, pricing of waste disposal, deposit-refund scheme for recycling, carbon taxes and emissions trading schemes. With topics involving transboundary environmental concerns such as climate change, air pollution, and waste management and recycling, the book also integrates international perspectives and provides comparisons of policies across regions and countries. A major objective of this book is to present a concise and accessible introduction to environmental economics as applied to policy evaluations in and beyond Japan. The knowledge available from this book must be very useful for students, policymakers and practitioners who seek environmental policy solutions from an economic point of view. This is an open access book.

Abstract
The argument that stringent environmental regulations are generally thought to harm export flows is crucial when determining policy recommendations related to environmental preservation and international competitiveness. By using bilateral trade data, we examine the relationships between trade flows and various environmental stringency indices. Previous studies have used energy intensity, abatement cost intensity, and survey indices for regulations as proxies for the strictness of environmental policy. However, they have overlooked the indirect effect of environmental regulations on trade flows. If the strong version of the Porter hypothesis is confirmed, we need to consider the effect of environmental regulation on gross domestic product (GDP), because GDP induced by environmental regulation affects trade flows. The present study clarifies the effects of regulation on trade flows by distinguishing between the indirect and direct effects. Our results indicate an observed non-negligible indirect effect of regulation, implying that the overall effect of appropriate regulation benefits trade flows.