Over the last few years, environmental issues have entered into policy design, particularly development and growth policies. Natural resources are considered necessary production inputs and environmental quality is considered a welfare determinant. The integration of environmental issues into...

This paper compares different results from a set of energy scenarios produced by international energy experts, in order to analyze projections on increasing European external energy dependence and vulnerability. Comparison among different scenarios constitutes the basis of a critical review of...

The paper aims at understanding the structural features of the bargaining coalitions in the Doha Round of the WTO. We provide an empirical assessment of the preferences of each negotiating actor looking at general economics indicators, development levels, structure of the agricultural sectors,...

Energy market liberalization and international economic interdependence have affected governments’ ability to react to security of supply challenges. On the other side, whereas in the past security of supply was largely seen as a national responsibility, the frame of reference has increasingly...

The pollution haven hypothesis affirms that an open market regime will encourage the flow of low technology polluting industries toward developing countries, due to potential comparative advantages related to low environmental standards. In contrast, the hypothesis suggested by Porter and van...

Increasing oil security represents one of the most important policy actions, especially within IEA countries. Short and long term mechanisms could help such goal. On the short term side, revision of IEA emergency response oil stock system has been discussed. The attention is mainly focused on...

The costs of energy supply disruptions for industrialised economies go well beyond the economic measures of national accounts. According to different kinds of risks, physical shortages or price shocks, there are several categories of negative effects. Oil disruptions have both a direct and an...

Sustainable development is a concept strictly connected with basic needs of the individuals. During the last years a number of empirical studies have tried to discover and quantify the causal relations between economic growth and environmental consumption and degradation. The most widely used...

The achievement of positive environmental performance at national level could strongly depend on differences in local capabilities of both institutions and the private business sector. Environmental regulation alone is a weak instrument if the institutional and business environment cannot...

This paper aims to explore how the competitiveness of the EU economy, here captured by export dynamics over the medium run (1996-2007), has been affected by environmental regulation both on the public and private sector side. The strong and weak versions of the Porter hypothesis are tested by...