The current debate on trade liberalization is accompanied by an increased concern about environmental and food safety issues leading to frictions of different country groups under the World Trade Organization (WTO). This discussion paper aims at shedding more light on some of the issues in the...

Why do some countries establish their own national eco-labeling programs and some do not? In this paper, we provide both theoretical arguments and empirical evidence suggesting that the answer to this question can shed new light on three questions that have taken center-stage in the trade and...

Leakage in the fuel market differs, depending on whether ethanol production is determined by a tax credit or consumption mandate. Two components of market leakage are distinguished: domestic and international. Leakage with both a tax credit and a consumption mandate depends on market...

This paper analyzes the impact of expansion in biofuels on the global economy, income distribution and poverty. It utilizes simulation results of two World Bank models: a global computable general equilibrium (CGE) model integrated with biofuels, land-use, and climate change modules, and a...

Even though recent discussions on food prices and indirect land use change point atpotential conflicts associated with the production of biofuels the appraisal of biofuels as an effective instrument to slow down climate change and reduce energy dependency still prevails. The EU Renewable Energy...

The EU is the third largest regional export market for US agricultural products, with over $6 billion in annual sales. In principle, EU environmental policies designed to control domestic externalities could alter US agricultural exports to the EU. This paper develops a range of theoretically...

Costs of environmental regulations, although relatively small, can be critical in the competitiveness of a product since the cost advantages of producers in one country are often very slim. Additional costs derived from new regulations are a factor in the continued importance of exports and of...

This paper provides a formal analysis of the welfare and trade implications of eco-labeling schemes. A simple model of vertical (quality) differentiation captures major stylized features of the textiles market in which trading takes place between an industrialized North (domestic) and a...

The Kyoto Protocol represents the first international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Proposed mitigation efforts may involve the agricultural sector through such options as planting trees, crop and livestock management changes, and biofuels production. The combined use of these...

Why do some countries establish their own national eco-labeling programs and some do not? In this paper, we provide both theoretical arguments and empirical evidence suggesting that the answer to this question can shed new light on three questions that have taken center-stage in the trade and...