Environmental standards and their impact on the competitiveness of exports in selected economies
Thesis presented by
Kamal Kadhim Jawad Shimari
To
College Board of Management and Economics / University of Karbala
It is part of the requirements for obtaining the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy in Economic Sciences
Under the supervision
Prof. Kadhim Ahmad al-Battat Prof. Tawfiq Abbas al-Masoudi
Abstract The environmental standards and one of the most prominent elements of export competitiveness in advanced economies and developing countries alike, particularly in recent years, to being playing a major role in the entry into force of exports and access to international markets, and is this different from the role of the economy to another depending on the level of economic development and viable productive sectors to absorb and resettlement of modern technology that contribute to the capacity building of producers and to overcome the difficulties encountered in complying with the standards and global environmental requirements . What is seen in the global market of significant developments and successive use of specifications and environmental standards, especially after the great expansion in the quantity and quality of new products makes it imperative for developing countries to work on capacity development and the provision of the necessary infrastructure to comply with those standards and environmental requirements in order to prevent the loss of its share in the global markets, it is Export Development in the light of the new trading system one of the important issues that occupy a high position in the various government programs to its importance and its role in advancing economic development . The nature of the relationship between environmental standards and competitiveness is a complex relationship, as some believe that compliance with these standards represent an additional burden increases production costs and hurt the competitiveness of producers, while others consider that environmental standards are a useful way to improve the efficiency of the production and exploitation of natural resources optimally and reducing environmental degradation and negative impacts on the environment that affect the community and paid for current and future generations, hence the need for studies and research surveys to find out whether environmental standards lead to higher export competitiveness or decline, and the basis of this importance came this study to explain the correlation between the two variables in developed and developing economies and diagnosis of the strengths inherent in the first and managed through harnessing environmental standards in line with the sectors of production and utilization in the commercial aspects and environmental side, and vulnerabilities faced by developing economies that prevent compliance with those standards, which led to a decline in competitiveness and decline in their access to global markets, The study included three chapters, as first chapter discusses the conceptual framework of the economics of environmental standards and environmental legislation global, while the second chapter export competitiveness in light of the new trade regime, the third chapter has been devoted to the study of the role of environmental standards determine the competitiveness of exports in different models of economies, and was chosen the U.S. economy because it represents one of the most developed economies, which are subject to environmental standards strict and have a successful experience access to global markets through compliance with environmental standards, was selected as the Chinese economy as it represents one of the developing economies emerging which achieved growth rates and exchanges commercial high was in some sectors at the expense of environmental performance while it was in other sectors through compliance with environmental standards and meet the requirements of the World, while the third model has been chosen the Egyptian economy to being one of the developing economies, which has the structure of a productive diverse and proceeded to implement programs economic reform since the late eighties of the last century, but he did not succeed in overcoming the difficulties that accompanied the compliance with international environmental standards.
