Competitiveness and environmental standards : some exploratory results

Contrary to common perceptions, higher environmental standards in industrial countries have not tended to lower their international competitiveness, the author contends. There has been little systematic relationship between higher environmental standards and competitiveness in environmentally sensitive goods (those that incurred the highest pollution abatement and control costs in the U.S. in 1988). Among the author's findings about what determines trade flows in environmentally sensitive goods: (a) environmental spending has been a small share of total spending -- so it is unlikely on its own to have caused shifts in comparative advantage in most industries; (b) differences in environmental spending among industrial countries seem to have been minor; (c) environmental spending has been concentrated in a few basic industries under heavy pressure to structure the international division of labor; (d) energy use and environmental spending are closely linked; and (e) positive adjustment and increased comparative advantage in environmentally sensitive goods were more pronounced in countries where environmental policies encouraged investment rather than current spending. The costs of environmental standards depend not only on physical characteristics but also on the policies chosen. The reductions industrial countries have achieved in the main pollutants differ greatly across countries. In the United States, which has some of the highest private environmental spending (as a share of GDP), investments have been a declining share of spending. The United States also has some of the lowest reductions in abatement, which may mean that it has succeeded less than other countries in internalizing environmental costs. Compliance with higher environmental standards is not a zero-sum game. Higher environmental standards to reduce the social cost of pollution is a new source of permanent structural change. Countries that adjust early and invest in environmental protection technology can maintain and even create comparative advantage in environmentally sensitive industries. Private costs incurred to reduce the social cost of pollution may, apart from the social benefit of lower pollution, also bring private benefits. Adjustment can mean shifting to producing less pollution-intensive goods. Pressures toward this end are likely to increase as environmental awareness becomes more common. Instead of lobbying for protection, industries struggling with environmental spending should lobby for better environmental policies -- that is, policies and standards that encourage efficient abatement. Demands for protection because of differences in environmental spending are likely to be counterproductive and to retard adjustment toward a new way of competing. Ecodumping duties could do little for the environment but much harm to the trading system.Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT,Access to Markets,Markets and Market Access

Regional integration and the Baltics : which way?

Some propose that the Baltics seek deeper trade integration with the East to maintain existing trade flows and because the Baltics have had little market access to the West. The author argues against such integration, proposing instead that the Baltics improve trade relations with the West, where market access is likely to be less and less of a problem. After assessing factor endowments, and using a gravity model, the author predicts that more than 90 percent of Baltic trade will be with non-former Soviet Union countries. Initial exports are likely to be labor- and resource-intensive goods, because it is easier to adjust to Western standards with those goods. But in the long run, the Baltics will have a comparative advantage in skill-intensive manufactures, as their years of schooling are among the highest in the developing world. (Exports of labor- and resource-intensive products, especially from Estonia, have already increased. Estonia is the most advanced of the Baltics in its transition to a market economy.) The author predicts the Baltics will eventually trade mostly with Europe. She says the Baltics are unlikely to benefit from deeper trade integration with the East for the following reasons. The lower adjustment costs and the benefits of maintaining viable industries resulting from sustained trade flows with the East are likely to be outweighed by the cost of lost opportunities in the West. Temporary preferential arrangements entail high administrative costs and arerarely temporary. Preferential trade could mean slower adjustment and powerful lobbies against change. Numerous nontariff barriers with the East, slow and unreliable payments, unstable currencies, and barter arrangements increase transaction costs and impede the creation of more trade. Preferential trading with Russia or the Ukraine entails the risk of increasing external protection for the more liberal Baltics. This risk is magnified by the relatively slow adjustment of Russia and other former Soviet Union republics and the faster reform in the Baltics. The recent free trade agreement among the Baltics allows countries to maintain independent external trade policies, without creating the many administrative problems of a union. Free trade agreements will not only improve market access but may help lock in reforms at home, which may help attract foreign investment. With liberalized trade, competition from liberal Estonia may help reduce protection levels in Latvia and Lithuania. After initial adjustment, trade with the West will promote faster, more sustainable growth. Allocation of resources based on world prices, and transfer of technology, will increse productivity growth. Trade with the West will probably also lower environmental costs. OECD protectionism is unlikely to become an insurmountable obstacle to more Baltic exports to the West. Recent statements about Europe turning its back on the reforming East seem exaggerated, at least for the Baltics. Their position as the former Soviet Union member most discriminated against by Europe is changing, as they rapidly climb the various pyramids of access to European trade.Trade and Regional Integration,TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Trade Policy

Ravitsemuskasvatusta päiväkoti Siilinpiiloon Sapere-menetelmän avulla

Opinnäytetyön tarkoitus oli antaa päiväkodille apua ravitsemuksellisissa ongelmissa ja uusia näkökulmia ravitsemuskasvatuksessa sekä käytännön esimerkkejä Saperesta. Opinnäytetyössä toteutettiin Siilinpiilon päiväkodin lapsille ravitsemuskasvatustuokio Sapere- menetelmän avulla. Ravitsemuskasvatustuokion tavoitteena oli saada lapset innostumaan kasviksista, hedelmistä ja marjoista sekä vähentää lasten ennakkoluuloja uusia ruokia kohtaan. Toiminnallisen opinnäytetyön tuotoksena laadittiin leikki-ikäisen lapsen ravitsemusopas. Opas on tarkoitettu tueksi päiväkodin henkilökunnalle ja lasten vanhemmille lasten ravitsemuksellisissa valinnoissa. Tutkimusmenetelminä käytettiin havainnointia ja haastattelua. Havainnointia tehtiin ravitsemuskasvatustuokion aikana. Haastattelu tehtiin Mehtimäen päiväkodin johtajalle, heidän Sapere-toiminnan toteutumisesta, kokemuksista ja saaduista tuloksista. Tulosten perusteella Sapere-menetelmällä on positiivisia vaikutuksia lasten suhtautumisessa uusiin ruokiin ja erityisesti kasviksien ja hedelmien syönti on lisääntynyt.The aim of the study was to provide assistance to a nursery on nutritional problems and new perspectives for nutrition education as well as practical examples of method Sapere. This thesis was carried out as a nutrition education session for the children of nursery Siilinpiilo by way of the method Sapere. The objective during the nutrition education session was to inspire children to knowing vegetables, fruits and berries and decrease the prejudice with regard to new foods. As a part of this functional thesis prepared a guide for a preschooler was prepared. The guide is meant for nursery personnel and parents of the children in support of nutritional choices. Observation and interview were used as the research method. Observation was conducted during the nutrition education session. The interview was conducted with the director of nursery Mehtimäki on the realization of as well as experiences and the results obtained from Sapere. On the basis of the results method Sapere had positive effects on the children’s attitude towards new food and especially eating vegetables and fruits has increased

Macroeconomic Challenges with Eu Accession in Southeastern Europe

The paper reviews key macroeconomic challenges with EU accession in Southeastern Europe (SEE). Most of the countries in the region are years away from EU accession and need substantial progress to meet the key macroeconomic criteria-the establishment of a functioning market economy and macroeconomic stability. The former calls for further structural reforms. While macroeconomic stability is essential throughout the EU accession process, the importance of specific outcomes increases in the last stage of accession, when countries face decisions to apply for entry into the ERM2 and the Maastricht criteria (Bulgaria and Romania). The main challenges with establishing macroeconomic stability in other countries are related to sustainability of their monetary frameworks, risks from rapid financial deepening, and further fiscal consolidation to support growth and stabilization. Most of the SEE countries have room to lower public spending and increase the share of pro-growth spending.Markets;European Union;exchange rate, inflation, macroeconomic stability, monetary policy, exchange rate anchor, exchange rate anchors, foreign exchange, foreign currency, inflation targeting, exchange rate arrangements, currency boards, exchange rates, inflation dynamics, low inflation, foreign exchange market, exchange restrictions, inflation rates, effective exchange rates, lower inflation, flexible exchange rate, current accounts, real exchange rate, high inflation, nominal exchange rate, real effective exchange rates, exchange rate volatility, inflation target, exchange risk, exchange rate fluctuations, exchange rate targeting, exchange rate risks, inflation targeting framework, exchange rate regimes, exchange rate regime, foreign exchange risk, exchange rate parity, country exchange rate, inflation rate, fixed exchange rate, currency exchange rate, inflationary pressures, fixed exchange rates, currency exchange, current exchange rate, money growth

The GATS Agreementon Financial Services

This paper analyzes the links between multilateral, and unilateral financial liberalization, the former represented by the General Agreements on Trade in Services (GATS). It provides an overview of the main features of the GATS and what the participants in banking and securities within its framework, and compares GATS liberalization with the actual state of liberalization of the participants’ financial sectors. The results suggest that in many countries multilaterally liberalized financial sector policies are more restrictive than the actual state of openness or development of financial sectors. Many emerging markets liberalized little under the GATS despite often well-developed financial markets, while the opposite was true in some less developed developing countries.

Macroeconomic Conditions and Import Surcharges in Selected Transition Economies

Analysis on macroeconomic determinants of protection in the Czech and Slovak Republics, Hungary, and Poland, while subject to many caveats, suggests that appreciation of the real exchange rate was the main macroeconomic determinant of trade policy reversals in the 1990s. This suggests that balance of payments difficulties may have been used as an excuse for protection. The analysis also suggests that greater exchange rate flexibility and tighter fiscal policies could have been used instead of import surcharges to deal with external imbalances. The surcharges may only have aggravated the external balance by slowing down exports and restructuring of production.

Algeria

Given the tendency of the oil sector to appreciate the equilibrium real exchange rate (RER) in Algeria, trade liberalization with its depreciating impact on the RER is important for diversification of exports. This paper shows that reduction in trade protection would depreciate the RER in Algeria, which in turn would improve competitiveness of, and incentives to invest in, non-oil exports. The paper then discusses existing levels of protection in Algeria and directions for reform.

The Burden of Sub-Saharan African Own Commitments in the Uruguay Round

The paper reviews Sub-Saharan Africa’s (SSA) (i) own market access commitments in the Uruguay Round, and (ii) the nature of the constraints on SSA policies set by the Uruguay Round. It concludes that SSA failed to use the Uruguay Round to lock domestic reforms to an international anchor. Apart from South Africa, most SSA countries made few substantial liberalization commitments on border protection. The new rules set few immediate constraints on SSA policies as developing countries benefit from long and extendable transition periods. The main impact of the new rules will be increased transparency of policies from increased notification requirements. Further trade liberalization will have to rely on unilateral initiatives. This a Working Paper and the author(s) would welcome any comments on the present text. Citations should refer to a Working Paper of the International Monetary Fund, mentioning the author(s), and the date of issuance. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the Fund.