Synopses & Reviews
This book is a considerable step towards a better-informed debate between free-trader and environmentalist interests brought on in international trade negotiations. It presents results of an empirical investigation of the interaction between growth, international trade, and the environment in Chile, China, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Morocco, and Vietnam, using a common computable general equilibrium modelling approach. The book meshes analytical results, methodology, and detailed empirical analysis in a comprehensive appraisal of the interface between outward-oriented growth and the environment, with particular reference to the policy challenges faced by developing countries. The latter arguably have the greatest stake in successful co-ordination of free trade and domestic environmental policies to achieve higher living standards while protecting their environment. The conjecture of inevitable growth-environment trade-off is not sustained by the analysis. The book provides reliable guidance toward constructive reconciliation of economic and environmental aspirations.
Review
"The book makes many important contributions and is a must-read for anyone involved in trade/environment. It should also be of interest to CGE modelers and environmental policy analysts. I encourage researchers to use the base model and the results from the book to broaden the trade/environment investigations for more countries or to refine and focus the analyses presented for the seven countries. There is plenty of work to be done. I hope that future analyses are performed with such care and completeness." (American Journal of Agricultural Economics (November 2003)
Synopsis
This book was initiated while the three major authors were at the Development Centre of Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris, working on its program on economic growth, trade, and sustainability. We wish to thank the OECD Development Centre for its support. The book was completed during summer 2001 at the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University. We appreciate the resources and financial support CARD provided for publication of this work. Sandra Clarke provided technical editing of the manuscripts and oversaw the indexing of the book; Becky Olson prepared the camera-ready copy of the final manuscript. We thank them for their instrumental help in these last steps. Part of the work presented in this volume previously appeared in some form in journals. The analysis of Chile presented in Chapter 6 appeared as Growth, Trade, Pollution and Natural-Resource Use in Chile. Evidence from an Economywide Model, Agricultural Economics 19(1998): 87-97; and as Trade Integration, Environmental Degradation, and Public Health in Chile: Assessing the Linkages, Environment and Development Economics, in press. The work on Costa Rica and Indonesia summarised in Chapter 10 appeared as Is There a Trade-off Between Trade Liberalisation and Pollution Abatement in Costa Rica? A Computable General Equilibrium Assessment, Journal of Policy Modeling 20(1): 11-31; and as The Environment and Welfare Implications of Trade and Tax Policy, Journal of Development Economics 52(1997): 65-82."
Table of Contents
List of Figures. List of Tables. List of Acronyms and Abbreviations. List of Contributors. Preface. Part A: Methodology and Modelling. 1. Globalisation and the Environment from a Development Perspective; J. Beghin, D. Roland-Holst, D. Van der Mensbrugghe. 2. Trade and Environmental Policy Instruments and Reforms; J. Beghin. 3. Empirical Modelling of Trade and the Environment; J. Beghin, S. Dessus, D. Roland-Holst, D. Van der Mensbrugghe. 4. Input-Based Pollution Estimates for Environmental Assessment in Developing Countries; S. Dessus, D. Roland-Holst, D. Van der Mensbrugghe. 5. Modelling Health Impacts of Air Pollution and Their Valuation: An Application to Santiago, Chile; B. Bowland, J. Beghin. Part B: Case Studies. 6. Growth, Trade, and the Environment Nexus in Chile: A Comprehensive Assessment; J. Beghin, S. Dessus, D. Roland-Holst, D. Van der Mensbrugghe. 7. Trade Liberalisation and the Environment in China; S. Dessus, A. El Obeid, D. Van der Mensbrugghe. 8. Coordinated Trade and Environmental Policies for Morocco; D. Roland-Holst, M. Bussolo. 9. Outward Orientation, Growth, and the Environment in Vietnam; A. El Obeid, D. Van der Mensbrugghe, S. Dessus. 10. Synthesis of Case Studies on Indonesia, Mexico, and Costa Rica; A. El Obeid. 11. Conclusions; J. Beghin, D. Roland-Holst, D. Van der Mensbrugghe. Index.