The Effect of Trade Openness on Deforestation: Empirical Analysis for 142 Countries

This study explores the effect of trade openness on deforestation. Previous studies do not find a clear effect of trade openness on deforestation. We use updated data on the annual rate of deforestation for 142 countries from 1990 to 2003, treat trade and income as endogenous, and take into consideration an adjustment process by applying a dynamic model. We find that an increase in trade openness increases deforestation for non-OECD countries while slowing down deforestation for OECD countries. There is a possibility that both capital-labor and environmental-regulation effects have a negative impact on deforestation in developing countries, whereas the opposite holds in developed countries.Trade Openness; Environment; Comparative Advantage; Deforestation

Does Trade Liberalization Reduce Pollution Emissions?

Literature on trade liberalization, economic development, and the environment is largely inconclusive about the environmental consequences of trade. This study treats trade and income as endogenous and estimates the overall impact of trade openness on environmental quality using the instrumental variables technique. Trade is found to benefit the environment using a globally representative sample. A 1% increase in trade openness causes a decrease of 0.344%, 0.754%, and 1.909% for SO2, CO2, and BOD emissions, respectively, in the long term. Our results also show composition and scale-technique effects contribute differently to the overall effect in the short and long term.

Do Environmental Regulations Increase Bilateral Trade Flows?

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 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

介護老人福祉施設における虐待予防プログラムを用いた研修実施と効果検証

論文　要介護高齢者入居施設における入居者虐待は、古くから存在した社会問題であるが、近年、①要介護高齢者の急増、②要介護高齢者施設を経営する主体（法人）の多様化、③高齢者虐待の防止、高齢者の養護者に対する支援等に関する法律（以下「高齢者虐待防止法」という。）の施行による虐待実態の顕在化、さらには各種メディアによる報道等によって、多くの人々にとってより身近な社会問題として認識されるようになってきた。　本研究は、実際に介護老人福祉施設の職員として実践に携わっている専門職と協働して作成した独自の虐待予防研修プログラム（素案）を用いて施設の介護職員向け研修を実施し、当該研修プログラムの評価（プログラムの実施効果の把握および当該研修プログラムに関する改善点等に関する示唆を得る）を行うことを目的として実施した。　本研究では、まず、介護老人福祉施設における福祉サービス提供実践者とチームをつくり、先行研究や既存の文献等も踏まえながら議論を重ね、「虐待を生み出す要因を構造的に理解するための研修プログラム」と「不適切なケアを低減するための研修プログラム」の２本柱によって構成された介護老人福祉施設における虐待予防研修プログラム素案を作成することができた。また、本稿において当該プログラム素案の作成プロセスを示すことができた。　次に、当該プログラムを用いた研修を受講した方々を対象とした調査票調査の結果から、「虐待を生み出す要因を構造的に理解するための研修プログラム」と「不適切なケアを低減するための研修プログラム」をセットにした「介護老人福祉施設介護職員向けの虐待予防研修」の有用性を把握することができた。　また、今後も継続しての本プログラムの開発を進める上で、「研修を受講したことによる効果を実感できる工夫（仕組み）」、「プログラム２の図解化を成功させるための改善・工夫」、「研修受講者が『意識の変化が虐待予防につながる最も重要な効果である』ということを実感できるための工夫（仕組み）」が必要であることを明確にすることができた

Ideología y política en el Japón moderno

El proceso de modernización que ha sufrido Japón desde su apertura a Occidente en 1853, produjo una importante interacción entre la cultura del antiguo Edo y las culturas periféricas, entre las cuales se incluyó a Corea, después de ser incorporada a la zona de influencia económica y militar del Japón. Este proceso se manifestó también en la corriente literaria, de gran originalidad y valor estético, que absorbió, asimiló y contrastó los elementos tradicionales y las influencias occidentales.Al estudio de este fenómeno, Shunsuke Tsurumi dedica esta serie de ensayos, donde analiza la problemática de la modernización en el campo de la ideología. La forma típicamente japonesa de presentación de la obra, así como la profundidad de su estudio hacen de este libro una excelente introducción a la historia intelectual del Japón modern

The effects of international trade on water use

The growing scarcity of water resources worldwide is conditioned not only by precipitation changes but also by changes to water use patterns; the latter is driven by social contexts such as capital intensity, trade openness, and income. This study explores the determinants of water use by focusing on the effect of trade openness on the degree to which water is withdrawn and consumed. Previous studies have conducted analyses on the determinants of water use but have ignored the endogeneity of trade openness. To deal with this endogeneity problem, we adopt instrumental variable estimation and clarify the determinants of water use. The determinants of water use are divided into scale, technique, and composition effects. Calculating each trade-induced effect, we examine how trade openness affects the degree of water use. Our results show that while trade has a positive effect on water withdrawal/consumption through trade-induced scale effects and direct composition effects, the trade-induced technique and the indirect composition effect, both of which exhibit a negative sign, counteract the scale effect and the direct composition effect, resulting in reduced water withdrawal/consumption. The overall effect induced by trade is calculated as being in the range of - 1.00 to - 1.52; this means that the overall effect of a 1% increase in the intensity of trade openness reduces the degree of water withdrawal/consumption by roughly 1.0-1.5%, on average. This result indicates that international bilateral trade would promote efficient water use through the diffusion of water-saving technologies and the reformation of industry composition

Does energy substitution affect carbon dioxide emissions : income relationship?

Considerable discussion has taken place during the last decade regarding the role of economic growth in determining environmental quality. Using data from 30 OECD countries for the period 1960-2003 and the nonparametric method of generalized additive models, which enables us to use flexible functional forms, this paper examines the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis for carbon dioxide (CO2). We find that the reduction of coal share in energy use has a significant effect on CO2. Our results imply that economic growth is not sufficient to decrease CO2 emissions.\u

World emissions and economic growth: application of non-parametric methods

The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesises an inverse U-shaped relationship between a measure of environmental pollution and per capita income levels. In this study, we apply non-parametric estimation of local polynomial regression (local quadratic fitting) to allow more flexibility in local estimation. This study uses a larger and globally representative sample of many local and global pollutants and natural resources including Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) emission, CO2 emission, CO2 damage, energy use, energy depletion, mineral depletion, improved water source, PM10, particulate emission damage, forest area and net forest depletion. Copyright © 2009 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd