Private sector initiatives certifying that producers of goods and services adhere to defined environmental process standards are increasingly popular worldwide. According to proponents, they can circumvent chronic barriers to effective public sector environmental regulation in developing countries. ...

Across Europe, there is considerable interest in establishing stronger links between environmental regulation and standards for environmental management systems (EMSs) such as ISO 14001. If it can be demonstrated that possession of an EMS results in improved environmental or regulatory performance, ...

This paper uses new survey evidence to analyze the effects of regulation, plant-level management policies, and other factors on the environmental compliance of Mexican manufacturers. In Mexico and other developing countries, many plants avoid complying with regulations because monitoring and enforce...

A compilation of submissions to the Workshop and Policy Dialogue organized under the auspices of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Federal Ministry of Economics and Labour and Inwent (Capacity Building International, Germany) in Berlin, Germany on 21-22 November 2005...

The book provides information, and guidance for policymakers, the development community, and others in the critical area of "behind the border" barriers to trade. With a view to promoting efforts to strengthen Africa's capacity to meet trade standards, and comply with technical regulations, the book...

Standards and technical regulations exist to protect consumer safety or to achieve other goals, such as ensuring the interoperability of telecommunications systems, for example. Standards and technical regulations can, however, raise substantially both start-up and production costs for firms. For th...

This book provides an in-depth study of the management of standards and regulation in sustainable and radical innovation development.  It considers the case of micro Combined Heat and Power (mCHP) technology. The developers of this radical innovation in the European heating sector encountere...

Utilizing matched firm-trade data, this study examines the effect of technical barriers to trade (TBTs) on trade margins and quality upgrading in Chinese manufacturing. We find that TBTs are associated with higher probability of exit. Surviving exporters enjoy larger sales and charge higher expor...

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This paper reviews empirical studies that have investigated how international standards impact trade. It looks at different kinds of studies, from econometric studies to studies based on surveys of exporting firms. It concludes that the available literature does not provide a single answer to the qu...

This paper reviews empirical studies that have investigated how SPS/TBT measures impact trade in the food and agricultural sector. The author concludes that research supports the existence of a 'dual effect' of SPS-TBT measures on international trade of food and agricultural products, wit...

Compliance with public and private food safety standards has been the subject of increasing attention. Much of the literature on impacts of food safety regulation in developed countries focuses on public health. In poorer countries, the emphasis is on economic development. How standards shape access...

This trade brief discusses the significance of technical requirements as barriers to trade taking a development perspective. It provides an overview of the situation and why it is difficult for developing countries to implement SPS/TBT measures. The author suggest that the costs of risks assessme...

The relationship between standards and trade is a topic of great interest in the standardization community. In this synthesis review, a selection of emblematic studies draws together findings on the impacts of standards on trade across multiple contexts. With this, we can draw some conclusions ab...

The paper analyses the effects of the US implementing mandatory seafood (HACCP) food safety standards on export partners. The authors first review existing empirical literature on food safety and the potential impact of increased food safety standards on international trade and the seafood market. ...

This publication explain the conformity assessment process, provides an overview of the conformity assessment industry in Canada and discussess conformity assessment as a technical barrier to trade. Implications of the misalignment of regulations and conformity assessment practices across Canada are...

This publication provides guidelines on the use of standards to support public policy objectives via regulation. It is not a research study, but it is included here because it may be of interest to those conducting research on standards and regulation/public policy....

The case studies and priorities outlined in this report will help steer the conversation on how to continue to align standards in order to reduce red tape and administrative burden for Canadian businesses and lead to healthier economic growth in a way that is sustainable and beneficial for Canadians...

In this paper, we propose an approach to implement environmental standards into Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and in this way to measure their regulatory impact on eco-efficiency of firms. One standard feature of basic DEA models lies in the exogeneity of inputs, desirable and undesirable outputs....

Governments enact environmental regulations to compel firms to internalize pollution externalities. Critics contend that regulations encourage technological lock‐ins and stifle innovation. Challenging this view, the Porter‐Linde hypothesis suggests that appropriately designed regulations can spur in...