IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/tpr/glenvp/v19y2019i4p14-44.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

When Do International Treaties Matter for Domestic EnvironmentalLegislation?

Author

Listed:
  • Clara Brandi
  • Dominique Blümer
  • Jean-Frédéric Morin

Abstract

While thousands of international treaties have been concluded, it remains unclearwhether they have been implemented. This article investigates the relationshipbetween the conclusion of environment-related international treaties and theadoption of domestic environmental legislation. Thanks to data sets that areconsiderably more comprehensive and fine-grained than those previously used, wecan analyze the direct link to environmental legislation rather than the lessdirect link to environmental outcomes. Moreover, we can disaggregate forspecific environmental issue areas. Our results suggest a positive relationshipbetween domestic environmental legislation with both international environmentalagreements and preferential trade agreements (PTAs) with environmentalprovisions. This link is more robust for PTAs, mostly present in developingcountries, more pronounced before rather than after the treaties’ entryinto force, and shows significant variation depending on the issue area. Thesefindings contribute to the literature on environmental regime effectiveness andthe domestic impact of treaties.

Suggested Citation

  • Clara Brandi & Dominique Blümer & Jean-Frédéric Morin, 2019. "When Do International Treaties Matter for Domestic EnvironmentalLegislation?," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 19(4), pages 14-44, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:glenvp:v:19:y:2019:i:4:p:14-44
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/glep_a_00524
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andreas Dür & Leonardo Baccini & Manfred Elsig, 2014. "The design of international trade agreements: Introducing a new dataset," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 9(3), pages 353-375, September.
    2. Peter H. Egger & Christoph Jessberger & Mario Larch, 2013. "Impacts of Trade and the Environment on Clustered Multilateral Environmental Agreements," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(3), pages 331-348, March.
    3. Clive George & Shunta Yamaguchi, 2018. "Assessing Implementation of Environmental Provisions in Regional Trade Agreements," OECD Trade and Environment Working Papers 2018/01, OECD Publishing.
    4. Dür, Andreas & Baccini, Leonardo & Elsig, Manfred, 2014. "The design of international trade agreements: introducing a new dataset," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 59179, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. World Bank, 2017. "World Development Indicators 2017," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 26447.
    6. Baghdadi, Leila & Martinez-Zarzoso, Inmaculada & Zitouna, Habib, 2013. "Are RTA agreements with environmental provisions reducing emissions?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(2), pages 378-390.
    7. Stacy D. VanDeveer & Geoffrey D. Dabelko, 2001. "It's Capacity, Stupid: International Assistance and National Implementation," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 1(2), pages 18-29, May.
    8. Ronald B. Mitchell, 2006. "Problem Structure, Institutional Design, and the Relative Effectiveness of International Environmental Agreements," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 6(3), pages 72-89, August.
    9. Oran R. Young, 2001. "Inferences and Indices: Evaluating the Effectiveness of International Environmental Regimes," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 1(1), pages 99-121, February.
    10. Von Stein, Jana, 2005. "Do Treaties Constrain or Screen? Selection Bias and Treaty Compliance," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 99(4), pages 611-622, November.
    11. Jon Hovi & Detlef F. Sprinz & Arild Underdal, 2003. "The Oslo-Potsdam Solution to Measuring Regime Effectiveness: Critique, Response, and the Road Ahead," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 3(3), pages 74-96, August.
    12. Richard Perkins & Eric Neumayer, 2007. "Implementing Multilateral Environmental Agreements: An Analysis of EU Directives," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 7(3), pages 13-41, August.
    13. Joel Carbonell & Juliann Allison, 2015. "Democracy and state environmental commitment to international environmental treaties," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 79-104, May.
    14. Tallberg, Jonas, 2002. "Paths to Compliance: Enforcement, Management, and the European Union," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 56(3), pages 609-643, July.
    15. Jean-Frédéric Morin & Andreas Dür & Lisa Lechner, 2018. "Mapping the Trade and Environment Nexus: Insights from a New Data Set," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 18(1), pages 122-139, February.
    16. Sprinz, Detlef & Vaahtoranta, Tapani, 1994. "The interest-based explanation of international environmental policy," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 48(1), pages 77-105, January.
    17. Leonardo Baccini & Johannes Urpelainen, 2014. "Before ratification: understanding the timing of international treaty effects on domestic policies," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 50278, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    18. Alberto Abadie & Guido W. Imbens, 2006. "Large Sample Properties of Matching Estimators for Average Treatment Effects," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 74(1), pages 235-267, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zakaria Sorgho & Tharakan Joe, 2020. "Do PTAs with environmental provisions reduce emissions? Assessing the effectiveness of climate-related provisions?," Working Papers hal-03004353, HAL.
    2. Gritsenko, Daria, 2024. "Advancing UN digital cooperation: Lessons from environmental policy and governance," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    3. Wellhausen, Rachel L, 2023. "Waste Not, Want Not: Tariffs as Environmental Protection," Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, Working Paper Series qt40m4179x, Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, University of California.
    4. Ida Bastiaens & Evgeny Postnikov & Anne‐Kathrin Kreft, 2023. "Labour provisions in trade agreements and women's rights in the global south," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 14(5), pages 702-715, November.
    5. Rodolfo Campos & Marta Suárez-Varela & Jacopo Timini, 2022. "The EU-MERCOSUR trade agreement and its impact on CO2 emissions," Economic Bulletin, Banco de España, issue 1/2022.
    6. Zakaria Sorgho & Joe Tharakan, 2022. "Do PTAs with Environmental Provisions Reduce GHG Emissions? Distinguishing the Role of Climate-Related Provisions," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 83(3), pages 709-732, November.
    7. Shimon Ohtani, 2024. "Multilateral environmental agreements as information media: their functions and a theoretical framework," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 44(4), pages 1029-1038, December.
    8. Mattia Ubaldo & Steven McGuire & Vikrant Shirodkar, 2022. "Voluntary programs and emissions revisited: What is the effect of EU trade agreements with environmental provisions?," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 5(4), pages 467-489, December.
    9. RonaldB. Mitchell & LilianaB. Andonova & Mark Axelrod & Jörg Balsiger & Thomas Bernauer & JessicaF. Green & James Hollway & RakhyunE. Kim & Jean-Frédéric Morin, 2020. "What We Know (and Could Know) About International EnvironmentalAgreements," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 20(1), pages 103-121, February.
    10. Katharine Heyl & Felix Ekardt & Paula Roos & Jessica Stubenrauch & Beatrice Garske, 2021. "Free Trade, Environment, Agriculture, and Plurilateral Treaties: The Ambivalent Example of Mercosur, CETA, and the EU–Vietnam Free Trade Agreement," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-24, March.
    11. Xin Liu & Zhiyong Kang, 2022. "Environmental Policy and Exports in China: An Analysis Based on the Top 10,000 Energy-Consuming Enterprises Program," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-16, October.
    12. Brandi, Clara & Schwab, Jakob & Berger, Axel & Morin, Jean-Frédéric, 2020. "Do environmental provisions in trade agreements make exports from developing countries greener?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    13. Di Ubaldo, Mattia & Gasiorek, Michael, 2022. "Non-trade provisions in trade agreements and FDI," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kolcava, Dennis & Nguyen, Quynh & Bernauer, Thomas, 2019. "Does trade liberalization lead to environmental burden shifting in the global economy?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 98-112.
    2. Brandi, Clara & Schwab, Jakob & Berger, Axel & Morin, Jean-Frédéric, 2020. "Do environmental provisions in trade agreements make exports from developing countries greener?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    3. Elisabeth Christen & Klaus S. Friesenbichler & Alexander Hudetz & Claudia Kettner-Marx & Ina Meyer & Franz Sinabell, 2021. "Außenhandel und nachhaltige Entwicklung in Österreich. Befunde auf der Grundlage von vorliegenden Quellen," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 69290.
    4. Jürg Vollenweider, 2013. "The effectiveness of international environmental agreements," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 343-367, September.
    5. Basak Bayramoglu & Estelle Gozlan & Clément Nedoncelle & Thibaut Tarabbia, 2023. "Trade Agreements and Sustainable Fisheries [Accords commerciaux et pêche durable]," Working Papers hal-04101044, HAL.
    6. Tobias Böhmelt & Jürg Vollenweider, 2015. "Information flows and social capital through linkages: the effectiveness of the CLRTAP network," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 105-123, May.
    7. Campi, Mercedes & Dueñas, Marco, 2019. "Intellectual property rights, trade agreements, and international trade," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 531-545.
    8. Jacopo Timini & Nicola Cortinovis & Fernando López Vicente, 2022. "The heterogeneous effects of trade agreements with labour provisions," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(9), pages 2820-2853, September.
    9. Francois, Joseph & Hoekman, Bernard & Manchin, Miriam, 2022. "Pursuing Environmental and Social Objectives through Trade Agreements," Papers 1377, World Trade Institute.
    10. Di Ubaldo, Mattia & Gasiorek, Michael, 2022. "Non-trade provisions in trade agreements and FDI," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    11. Damian Raess & Andreas Dür & Dora Sari, 2018. "Protecting labor rights in preferential trade agreements: The role of trade unions, left governments, and skilled labor," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 143-162, June.
    12. Peter H. Egger & Filip Tarlea, 2021. "Comparing Apples to Apples: Estimating Consistent Partial Effects of Preferential Economic Integration Agreements," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 88(350), pages 456-473, April.
    13. Zakaria Sorgho & Joe Tharakan, 2022. "Do PTAs with Environmental Provisions Reduce GHG Emissions? Distinguishing the Role of Climate-Related Provisions," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 83(3), pages 709-732, November.
    14. Sorgho, Zakaria & Tharakan, Joe, 2022. "Do PTAs with environmental provisions reduce GHG emissions? Distinguishing the effectiveness of climate-related provisions," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2022012, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    15. James Hollway & Jean-Frédéric Morin & Joost Pauwelyn, 2020. "Structural conditions for novelty: the introduction of new environmental clauses to the trade regime complex," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 61-83, March.
    16. Inmaculada Martínez-Zarzoso & Santiago Chelala, 2021. "Trade agreements and international technology transfer," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 157(3), pages 631-665, August.
    17. Zakaria Sorgho & Tharakan Joe, 2020. "Do PTAs with environmental provisions reduce emissions? Assessing the effectiveness of climate-related provisions?," Working Papers hal-03004353, HAL.
    18. Stine Aakre & Jon Hovi, 2010. "Emission trading: Participation enforcement determines the need for compliance enforcement," European Union Politics, , vol. 11(3), pages 427-445, September.
    19. Christopher Marcoux & Johannes Urpelainen, 2012. "Capacity, not constraints: A theory of North-South regulatory cooperation," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 7(4), pages 399-424, December.
    20. Bedassa Tadesse & Roger White, 2019. "Economic integration agreements, immigrants and trade costs," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 155(2), pages 353-406, May.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:tpr:glenvp:v:19:y:2019:i:4:p:14-44. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Kelly McDougall (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://direct.mit.edu/journals .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.