Research Activities

Research Projects

Regulations on the environment/food safety and international trade (2019_2_40_015)

Outline

In the last decades, the numbers of regulations and standards on health, safety, and the environment have increased in both developed and developing countries. Product and process standards, which are non-tariff measures, have been expected to function as catalysts for trade but have also raised the concern of impeding trade flow in the form of disguised protectionism. However, prior research shows mixed results regarding trade impact depending on industry, standards, and products, etc. To utilize prior experience for future policy and business decision-making, the breaking down of mechanisms regarding trade impact is necessary. This research project thus examines the interaction between standards and trade, focusing on four under-researched mechanisms. The first mechanism involves the impact of standard diffusion for trade. The second involves interaction between private and public standards together with impacts on trade. The third involves the impact of standards on trade and production with a developing country as an importing country, and the final mechanism involves demand for private standards in Asia—a topic that has not been completely researched but that plays an important role in determining future demand for sustainable products. The research project aims to contribute to policymaking in standard settings and to adoption, as well as to business, for devising strategies related to ever-increasing standards, including sustainability standards.

Period

April 2019 - March 2021

Members of the Research Project
[ Organizer ] Michida Etsuyo
[ Co-researcher ] Yanai Akiko
[ Co-researcher ] Lei Lei
[ Co-researcher ] Humphrey John (School of Business, University of Sussex Visiting Professor)
[ Co-researcher ] Zhang Hui (Nanjing Forestry University)
Publications
  • IDE Research Bulletin / Discussion Paper