International review of ecodesign programs for products and lessons learned for China

ABSTRACT

Since the 1980s, ecodesign has emerged as a new guiding principle for integrating environmental aspects into product design and development, with the aim of reducing adverse environmental life-cycle impacts. For China, the concept of ecodesign is becoming important in advancing Chinese industrial development while mitigating the rise in national energy consumption and emissions. We reviewed 28 existing ecodesign labels and supporting programs adopted globally to identify lessons learned and best practices for the development of potential ecodesign labeling programs in China. We find that systematic framework and process and inclusion of various stakeholders in developing criteria, certification requirements and supporting policies in the form of green procurement, small local pilot subsidies, and active outreach and communication are key success factors of international programs. Based on international experiences and by leveraging existing Chinese frameworks for labeling and policies, China has an opportunity to lead in developing broader environmental criteria for a new ecodesign labeling program.     

Trade Liberalization, Exit, and Productivity Improvements: Evidence from Chilean Plants

This paper empirically investigates the effects of liberalized trade on plant productivity in the case of Chile. Chile presents an interesting setting to study this relationship since it underwent a massive trade liberalization that significantly exposed its plants to competition from abroad during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Methodologically, I approach this question in two steps. In the first step, I estimate a production function to obtain a measure of plant productivity. I estimate the production function semiparametrically to correct for the presence of selection and simultaneity biases in the estimates of the input coefficients required to construct a productivity measure. I explicitly incorporate plant exit in the estimation to correct for the selection problem induced by liquidated plants. These methodological aspects are important in obtaining a reliable plant-level productivity measure based on consistent estimates of the input coefficients. In the second step, I identify the impact of trade on plants' productivity in a regression framework allowing variation in productivity over time and across traded- and nontraded-goods sectors. Using plant-level panel data on Chilean manufacturers, I find evidence of within plant productivity improvements that can be attributed to a liberalized trade for the plants in the import-competing sector. In many cases, aggregate productivity improvements stem from the reshuffling of resources and output from less to more efficient producers.     

The role of health consciousness,food safety concern and ethical identity on attitudes and intentions towards organic food

The paper examines the roles of health consciousness, food safety concern and ethical self‐identity in predicting attitude and purchase intention within the context of organic produce. A conceptual model is derived and tested via structural equation modelling. Findings indicate food safety as the most important predictor of attitude while health consciousness appears to be the least important motive in contrast to findings from some previous research. In addition, ethical self‐identity is found to predict both attitudes and intention to purchase organic produce, emphasizing that respondents' identification with ethical issues affects their attitude and subsequent consumption choices.     

Trade Liberalization and Industry Wage Structure: Evidence from Brazil

Industry affiliation provides an important channel through whichtrade liberalization can affect worker earnings and wage inequalitybetween skilled and unskilled workers. This empirical studyof the impact of the 1988–94 trade liberalization in Brazilon the industry wage structure suggests that although industryaffiliation is an important component of worker earnings, thestructure of industry wage premiums is relatively stable overtime. There is no statistical association between changes inindustry wage premiums and changes in trade policy or betweenindustry-specific skill premiums to university graduates andtrade policy. Thus trade liberalization in Brazil did not significantlycontribute to increased wage inequality between skilled andunskilled workers through changes in industry wage premiums.The difference between these results and those obtained forother countries (such as Colombia and Mexico) provides fruitfulground for studying the conditions under which trade reformsdo not have an adverse effect on industry wage differentials.     

Unionization,Compensation, and Voice Effects on Quits and Retention

This study explores the relationships among unionization, compensation practices, and employee attachment (quit rates and tenure) among trucking companies to assess the applicability of Freeman and Medoff's exit/voice argument. Unionization was associated with lower quit rates, higher tenure, a better compensation package, and stronger voice mechanisms. The relationship of unionization to quit rates and tenure becomes nonsignificant after accounting for compensation (pay and benefits), and voice mechanisms do not add explanatory variance.     

Optimal Control of Upstream Pollution under Asymmetric Information

This paper derives optimal bribes to reduce upstream transfrontieremissions in the presence of asymmetric information on the polluter'sconcern for the environment. In a model in which the starting point forthe negotiations on emission reduction is a Cournot-Nash equilibrium, itis shown that transfers from the victim induce the polluting country toexaggerate its concern for the environment. As a consequence, in thesecond best solution, abatement of all but the least caring type isdistorted downward and optimal bribes may be such that more caring typesturn them down. These results are in sharp contrast to earlier policyproposals derived for a non-equilibrium starting point. They indicatethat under asymmetric information the binding incentive problem is toprevent the polluting country from claiming not to care about theenvironment and that optimal bribes from the victim should be restrictedto sufficiently environmentally concerned polluters.     

欧盟动物福利壁垒与中欧贸易发展

欧盟是动物福利最积极的倡导者,已经建立了一套完整的动物福利保护体系。近年来,欧盟将动物福利与贸易相挂钩,构筑了动物福利壁垒体系。本文研究了欧盟关于动物福利的标准和规定,分析了中国动物福利的现状以及动物福利壁垒对中欧贸易发展的影响,并提出中国应对欧盟动物福利壁垒的措施。     

Informal household preparedness: methodological approaches to everyday practices

Abstract

Despite increasing attention to individuals’ everyday lives in the literature on risk, few studies investigate household preparedness within the everyday life context. Preparedness is most often regarded as a predefined set of capacities for dealing with emergencies. This article presents methodological approaches for studying what I suggest calling informal preparedness activities that are performed as part of daily life in households. Starting with the assumption that everyday life is enacted through culturally and socially shared practices, it is argued that preparedness is interwoven into these practices. Contrary to studying preparedness as the degree to which households are aware of and act according to a formal definition of preparedness, informal household preparedness focuses on preparedness as embedded in the routinised practices that make up everyday life. The study of informal household preparedness is based on three methodological approaches that explore these practices: (i) Performance of everyday practices, where interviews that focus on performance ask questions about what practitioners actually do; (ii) materiality, where walk-alongs are used to connect performance interviews to the material surroundings; and (iii) visualisation, where the material aspects of informal preparedness are documented. These approaches were carried out in a study of Norwegian households’ management of and preparedness for electricity and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure breakdowns. Addressing informal and formal preparedness activities expands our understanding of household preparedness and should help policy makers recognise the active role of households and their actual resources and constraints in future preparedness planning.     

‘Social Mixing' or ‘Gentrification'? Contradictory Perspectives on Urban Change in the Berlin District of Neukölln

In the past two decades, the Berlin district of Neukölln has received considerable attention from politicians, planners, urban scholars and the media. This article discusses the role that the academic concepts of ‘social mixing' and ‘gentrification' play in the overlapping and partly contradictory narratives that have been employed to interpret transformations in one particular part of the district, Nord‐Neukölln. While the area is still characterized as a place of poverty and decline, it has more recently come to be known as a ‘hip place to be' among young (creative) urbanites, students and artists. Various urban players such as politicians, planners, urban sociologists, activists, interest groups and the media participate in the construction of these narratives and, in the process, adopt the concepts of social mixing and gentrification according to their respective rationales and preferences. Both concepts play a pivotal role in justifying contradictory claims and interventions. As a consequence, ‘social mixing' and ‘gentrification' are more than just analytical concepts for interpreting urban transformations; they have themselves become part of these transformations and have an impact on local developments. We conclude that urban scholarship must reflect more on its own role and positioning in the arena of urban transformation.