The policy impact of product-related environmental regulations in Asia

This paper focuses on EU chemical regulations, RoHS and REACH, and shows these EU regulations have driven Asian countries to introduce regulations that are similar yet modified versions to the EU regulations. Asia as the world manufacturing center has extensive production networks where parts and components of a final good are traded across borders. We discuss how product-related environmental regulations could impact on firms' activities then show that if Asian countries with complex supply chains introduce different product related chemical regulations without coordinating with neighboring countries, it could work as trade barrier for manufacturing activities in the region.

Does technological progress magnify regional disparities?

We study how technological progress in manufacturing and transportation to-gether with migration costs interact to shape the space-economy. Rising labor productivity in the manufacturing sector fosters the agglomeration of activities, whereas falling transport costs associated with technological and organizational in-novations fosters their dispersion. Since these two forces have been at work for a long time, the final outcome must depend on how drops in the costs of producing and trading goods interact with the various costs borne by migrants. Finally, when labor is heterogeneous, the most efficient workers of the less productive region are the first to move to the more productive region.