This article examines whether commercial openness has affected environmental policy in the postcommunist countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. During the Cold War, these countries had closed trade regimes combined with little environmental regulation and poor environmental quality. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the breakup of the Soviet Union, many postcommunist countries have engaged in extensive trade liberalization. Some countries, however, have been slower to open their markets, and others have maintained highly protectionist trade policies. Have countries that opened up to global markets improved their environmental policies, or has increasing exposure to the international trading system undermined efforts to improve environmental policy? The results indicate that trade openness undermined a key element of environmental policy in the region by reducing governments' ability to collect environmental taxes and support environmental investments.
Adsera, A., & Boix, C. (2002). Trade, democracy, and the size of the public sector: The political underpinnings of openness. International Organization , 56(2), 229-262.
2.
Alesina, A., & Wacziarg, R. (1998). Openness, country size, and government. Journal of Public Economics, 69(3), 305-321.
3.
Andonova, L. (2004). Transnational politics of the environment: The EU and environmental policy in Central and Eastern Europe. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
4.
Aslund, A., Boone, P., & Johnson, S. (1996). How to stabilize: Lessons from post-communist countries. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 1, 217-311.
5.
Beck, N., & Katz, J.N. (1996). Nuisance vs. substance: Specifying and estimating Time-Series-Cross-Section Models. PoliticalAnalysis, 6, 1-36.
6.
Bluffstone, R., & Larson, B. A. (Eds.). (1997). Controlling pollution in transition economies: Theories and methods. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.
7.
Breusch, T., & Pagan, A. (1980). The Lagrange Multiplier Test and its applications to model specification in econometrics. Review of Economic Studies, 47, 239-253.
8.
Cameron, D.R. (1978). The expansion of the public economy: A comparative analysis. American Political Science Review, 72(4), 1243-1261.
9.
Carter, F.W., & Turnock, D. (2002). Environmental problems in Eastern Europe (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.
10.
Center for International Earth Science Information Network. (2002). Environmental treaties and resource indicators. Retrieved April 19, 2002, from http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/entri/
11.
Copeland, B.R., & Taylor, M.S. (2004). Trade, growth, and the environment. Journal of Economic Literature, 42(1), 7-71.
12.
Damania, R., Fredriksson, P.G., & List, J.A. (2003). Trade liberalization, corruption, and environmental policy formation: Theory and evidence. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 46(3), 490-512.
13.
Danilov-Daniliyan, V. (2002). Two years of ecological disorder under “delicate direction” of the Ministry of Natural Resources. Retrieved November 11, 2003, from http://www.opec.ru/library/article.asp?d_no=455&c_no=66
14.
Esty, D.C., Levy, M., Srebotnjak, T., & de Sherbinin, A. (2005). 2005 Environmental Sustainability Index: Benchmarking national environmental stewardship. New Haven, CT: Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy.
15.
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. (1997). Transition report. London: Author.
16.
Frankel, J.A. (2005). The environment and globalization. In M. Weinstein (Ed.), Globalization: What's new (pp. 129-169). New York: Columbia University Press.
17.
Frankel, J.A., & Rose, A.K. (2002). Is trade good or bad for the environment? Sorting out the causality (National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 9201). Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.
18.
Frankel, J., Stein, E., & Wei, S. (1997). Regional trading blocs in the world economic system . Washington, DC: Institute for International Economics.
19.
Fredriksson, P. G. (Ed.). (1999). Trade, global policy, and the environment. Washington, DC: World Bank.
20.
Frye, T. (2002). The perils of polarization: Economic performance in the postcommunist world. World Politics, 54(3), 308-337.
21.
Frye, T., Hellman, J., & Tucker, J. (2000). Data base on political institutions in the post-communist world. Unpublished Data Set, Ohio State University, Columbus.
22.
Frye, T., & Mansfield, E.D. (2003). Fragmenting protection: The political economy of trade policy in the post-communist world. British Journal of Political Science, 33(4), 635-657.
23.
Frye, T., & Mansfield, E.D. (2004). Timing is everything: Elections and trade liberalization in the postcommunist world. Comparative Political Studies, 37(4), 371-398.
24.
Garrett, G. (1998). Partisan politics in the global economy. New York: Cambridge University Press.
25.
Gutner, T.L. (2002). Banking on the environment: Multilateral development banks and their performance in Central Eastern Europe. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
26.
Helm, C., & Sprinz, D.F. (2000). Measuring the effectiveness of international environmental regimes. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 45(5), 630-652.
27.
Holzinger, K., & Knoepfel, P. (Eds.). (2000). Environmental policy in a European Union of variable geometry? The challenge of the next enlargement . Basel, Switzerland: Helbing & Lichtenhahn.
28.
Ichikawa, N., Tsutsumi, R., & Watanabe, K. (2002). Environmental indicators of transition. European Environment, 12, 64-76.
29.
Jaggers, K., & Gurr, T.R. (1995). Tracking democracy's third wave with Polity III Data. Journal of Peace Research, 32(4), 469-482.
30.
Kaufman, R.R., & Segura-Ubiergo, A. (2001). Globalization, domestic politics, and social spending in Latin America: A time-series cross-section analysis, 1973-97. World Politics, 53(4), 553-587.
31.
Keohane, R. O., & Levy, M. A. (Eds.). (1996). Institutions for environmental aid: Pitfalls and promise. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
32.
Kopstein, J.S., & Reilly, D.A. (2000). Geographic diffusion and the transformation of the postcommunist world. World Politics, 53(1), 1-37.
33.
Kotov, V., & Nikitina, E. (1996). Russia wrestles with an old polluter. Environment, 38(9), 6-37.
34.
Kotov, V., & Nikitina, E. (2002). Reorganisation of environmental policy in Russia: The decade of success and failures in implementation and perspective quests (Working paper of Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei). Retrieved November 11, 2003, from http://www.feem.it/NR/rdonlyres/59A79BBF-DE58-4819-BC3F-C0FE71384402/346/5702.pdf
35.
Lofdahl, C.L. (2002). Environmental impacts of globalization and trade: A systems study. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
36.
Low, P. (Ed.). (1992). International trade and the environment. Washington, DC: World Bank.
37.
Milner, H.V., with Kubota, K. (2005). Why the move to free trade? Democracy and trade policy in the developing countries. International Organization , 59(1), 107-143.
38.
Mitchell, R.B. (2003). The relative effects of environmental regimes: A quantitative comparison of four acid rain protocols. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Studies Association , Portland, OR.
39.
Mol, A.P.J. (2001). Globalization and environmental reform: The ecological modernization of the global economy. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
40.
Nielson, D.L., & Tierney, M.J. (2003). Delegation to international organizations: Agency theory and world bank environmental reform. International Organization, 57(3), 241-276.
41.
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. (1999). Sourcebook on environmental funds in economies in transition. Paris: Author.
42.
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. (2000). Environmental compliance and enforcement in the NIS: A survey of current practices of environmental inspectorates and options for improvement (OECD Report CCNM/ENV/EAP[2000]87). Almaty , Kazakhstan.
43.
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. (2004). Reform of pollution charges in the Russian Federation. Assessment of progress and opportunities and constraints for further improvement (Report No., ENV/EPOC/EAP/POL). Paris: Author.
44.
Parks, B., Tierney, M., Roberts, T., & Hicks, R. (2004). Greening aid: Understanding environmental assistance to developing countries. Unpublished manuscript, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA.
45.
Przeworski, A., Alvarez, M.E., Cheibub, J.A., & Limongi, F. (2000). Democracy and development: Political institutions and well-being in the world, 1950-1990. New York: Cambridge University Press.
46.
Regional Environmental Center. (1999). Sourcebook on economic instruments for environmental policy: Central and Eastern Europe. Szentendre, Hungary: Author .
47.
Regional Environmental Center. (2001). Environmental funds in the candidate countries. Szentenedre , Hungary: Author.
48.
Rodrik, D. (1997). Has globalization gone too far? Washington, DC: Institute for International Economics .
49.
Rudra, N. (2002). Globalization and the decline of the welfare state in less-developed countries. International Organization, 56(2), 411-445.
50.
Scruggs, L. (2003). Sustaining abundance: Environmental policy in industrial democracies. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
51.
Shugart, M.S., & Carey, J.M. (1992). Presidents and assemblies: Constitutional design and electoral dynamics. New York: Cambridge University Press.
52.
Smarzynska, B.K., & Wei, S. (2001). Pollution havens and foreign direct investment: Dirty secret or popular myth? (National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 8465). Retrieved on July 12, 2003, from http://www.brookings.edu/views/Papers/wei/20010614.pdf
53.
Speck, S., McNicholas, J., & Markovic, M. (2001). Environmental taxes in an enlarged Europe. Szentendre, Hungary: Regional Environmental Center .
54.
Stern, D.I., Common, M.S., & Barbier, E.B. (1996). Economic growth and environmental degradation: The environmental Kuznets Curve and sustainable development. World Development, 42(7), 1151-1160.
55.
Tavernise, S. (2003, October 5). Oil rush in Siberia puts other treasures at risk. The New York Times, p. A3.
56.
Vogel, D. (1995). Trading up: Consumer and environmental regulation in a global economy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
57.
Vogel, D., & Kagan, R. A. (Eds.). (2004). Dynamics of regulatory change: How globalization affects national regulatory policies. Berkeley: University of California Press.
58.
Vreeland, J. (2003). The IMF and economic development. New York: Cambridge University Press.
59.
Weinthal, E. (2002). State making and environmental cooperation: Linking domestic and international politics in Central Asia. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
60.
Wibbels, E. (2006). Dependency revisited: International markets, business cycles, and social spending in the developing world. International Organization, 60(2), 433-468.
61.
World Economic Forum, Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy, and CIESIN. (2001). 2001 Environmental Sustainability Index. March 12, 2003, from http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/indicators/ESI
