ISBN: 3790815578
TITLE: Product Standards, Exports and Employment
AUTHOR: Acharyya
TOC:

Preface VII
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
1.1 Why Low-quality Exports? 2
1.2 Quality of Exports and Employment 3
Chapter 2 Dimensions of Quality Problem in the Developing Countries 5
2.1 Low-Quality Phenomenon 5
2.2 High-Technology Exports 5
2.3 ISO-Series Certification 11
2.4 Dirty Exports and Environmental Standards 15
2.5 Conclusion 19
Chapter 3 Theories of Quality Choice 21
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Choice of Product Quality by Firms 21
3.3 Low-Quality Phenomena in LDCs: 21
Application of the Benchmark Model 34
3.3.1 Technotogy Asymmetry and Role of Research & Development
3.3.2 Income Disparity 35
3.4 Unobservable Quality, Information and 43
Reputation: Alternative Explanations 44
3.4.1 Asymmeric Information and Product Quality
3.4.2 Reputation, Contestability and 44
Information Externality
3.4.3 Quality Standards, Product Labeling 46
and Information 49
3.5 Conclusion 50
Appendix 51
Chapter 4 Income Distribution, Trade Policy and Export Quality 59
4.1 Introduction 59
4.2 Quality Selection and Wage Determination in a Small Open Economy 60
4.3 Trade Policy and Export Quality 67
4.4 Quality Regulation and Income Distribution 68
4.5 Capital Mobility and Market Diversification 70
4,6 Conclusion 75
Chapter 5 Wage Policy, Standards and the Labour Market 77
5.1 Introduction 77
5.2 Minimum Wage, Quality Standards and Employment 79
5.3 Selective Wage Policy 81
5.3.1 Minimum-Wage Restriction in the Traditional Traded Sector 82
5.3.2 Minimum-Wage Restriction in the Non-Traded Sector 84
5.3.3 Choice of Selective Minimum-Wage Policy 86
5.4 Conclusion 87
Appendix 88
Chapter 6 Inter-Linkage Between Skill Formation and Export Quality 91
6.1 Introduction 91
6.2 Export Quality and Skilled Wage: Fixed Supply of Skill 92
6.3 Skill Formation and Export Quality: Two-Way Causation 95
6.3.1 The Skill Formation Process 95
6.3.2 Selection of Quality under Skill Formation 99
6.4 Foreign Trade Pattern and Supply of Skill 101
6.5 Capital Accumulation and Skill Supply 102
6.6 Conclusion 103
Chapter 7 Dirty Exports and Environmental Standards 105
7.1 North-South Trade and the Environment 105
7.2 Ecologieal Dumping and
Optimality of Trade Sanctions 106
7.3 Consumption Pollution and Northern Regulations 111
7.3.1 Environmental Quality in North under Autarchy 112
7.3.2 Trade Liberalization in the North 117
7.3.3 Welfare Implications of Environmental Standards 120
7.4 Environmental Regulation and Employment in the South 125
7.5 Conclusion 131
Appendix 131
List of Figures 135
List of Tables 137
Bibliography 139
Index 147
END

