Monday, September 11, 2006

ETSG 2006 environmental papers

I am now back from the European Trade Study Group conference in Vienna. Over 250 papers were presented, both theoretical and empirical, on all area international trade with about 10 or so papers with a direct environment link.

For example, there were sessions on: Competition Policy; Culture and Trade; Empirical aspects of trade; Environment and Trade; Openness and Economic Growth; Exchange Rates; Outsourcing; Preferential Trade Agreements; Tax Competition; Inequality; Migration; Theory of the Firm.

Our reseach agenda is to take many of the topics listed above and to examine environmental aspects of each. The link between most of the above and their impact/influence on the environment is relatively clear. Hopefully, we will get around to discussing these "international aspects of environmental economics" in future posts (and papers).

Two empirical papers from the conference that are of interest to the Globalisation and Environment debate are:

The Impact of Trade on the Environment by Helen Naughton (University of Oregon)

and

Is Trade Bad for the Environment? Decomposing world-wide SO2 emissions 1990-2000 by Jean-Marie Grether (Neuchatel), Nicole Mathys (Lausanne) and Jamie de Melo (Geneva).


The conference was also notable for the significant number of "grandfathers" and "fathers" of international trade who, with their younger colleagues, frequented the many excellent drinking establishments of Vienna until the very early hours of the morning(s). A tradition of all the previous 7 ETSG conferences that I have attended and one that I am sure will continue into the future.

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