The European regulatory state and global public policy: micro-institutions, macro-influence

Original citation:Perkins, Richard and Neumayer, Eric (2012) Does the 'California effect' operate across borders? trading-and investing-up AbstractAccording to one line of argument, economic integration may lead to the ratcheting upwards of regulatory standards towards levels found in higher-regulating jurisdictions, a phenomenon referred to as the 'California effect'. Yet, at least in the case of public environmental policies, comparatively little systematic empirical work has been undertaken to examine whether international trade and investment with more stringently regulated countries leads to higher domestic environmental standards in lower-regulating economies. Our contribution seeks to fill this gap using a newly-constructed dataset measuring the stringency of domestic automobile emission standards. We find robust support for a trading-up effect in a sample of up to 147 developing countries: greater automobile and related components exports to countries with more stringent automobile emission standards are associated with more stringent domestic emission standards. Investing-up dynamics are also apparent, in that we find higher inward FDI in the automotive sector is associated with more stringent domestic automobile emission standards in host developing economies.

Section: Trading-up Via Exportsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does the ‘California effect’ operate across borders? Trading- and investing-up in automobile emission standards

Perkins¹,

Neumayer²

2012

“…The most spectacular case in point is the EU's competition policy which not only applies to mergers, acquisitions, and cartels within the EU but also to firms like Boeing or Microsoft based outside Europe. More generally and less visibly, however, it affects all countries and firms with an interest in exporting to the EU market (see, e.g., Bach and Newman 2007;Princen 2003).…”

Section: External Governance As An Answer To Complex Interdependencementioning

confidence: 99%

EU rules beyond EU borders: theorizing external governance in European politics

Lavenex¹,

Schimmelfennig²

2009

419

201

The concept of external governance seeks to capture the expanding scope of EU rules beyond EU borders. This article elaborates the theoretical foundations of this concept, differentiates the various institutional modes through which external governance takes place and suggests a set of hypotheses addressing the conditions under which EU external governance is effective. Here, we contrast institutionalist explanations, which are the most germane to an external governance approach, with competing expectations derived from power-based theories and approaches emphasizing the role of domestic factors in the target countries.

“…Although the US actively opposed the EU approach, more than 30 countries have emulated EU regulations, including some key markets for the US such as Japan, Canada, and Australia. In the end, the US agreed to abide by EU rules in many cases, and European regulations have thus become the de facto international standard (Bach and Newman 2007). Here, Europe has managed to shape global rules on its own terms.…”

Section: Exercising Regulatory Influencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some managed globalization policies began as purely regional instruments and may, in that regional context, have had a protectionist effect. Nevertheless, with the passage of time, European actors used these policies also to affect global markets (Bach and Newman 2007).…”

Section: Between Protectionism and Ad Hoc Globalizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Europe and the management of globalization

Jacoby¹,

Meunier²

2010

European policy-makers often speak of their efforts to 'manage globalization'. We argue that the advocacy of managed globalization is more than a rhetorical device and indeed has been a primary driver of major European Union (EU) policies over the past 25 years. We sketch the outlines of the concept of managed globalization, raise broad questions about its extent, and describe five major mechanisms through which it has been pursued: (1) expanding policy scope; (2) exercising regulatory influence; (3) empowering international institutions; (4) enlarging the territorial sphere of EU influence; and (5) redistributing the costs of globalization. These mechanisms are neither entirely novel, nor are they necessarily effective, but they provide the contours of an approach to globalization that is neither ad hoc deregulation nor old-style economic protectionism.