The siting or development of risky facilities, such as nuclear power plants or waste repositories, remains an intractable policy problem for all democratic nations. In this valuable new book, the authors present a comparative study of various siting controversies in North America, Asia, Europe and Australia. They argue that devising effective policies for dealing with siting conflicts will require social learning and changes in both institutional design and policy process. This volume studies the issue of siting in the context of a transactions cost framework. It analyses the extent to which the institutional and policy environment can assist in managing siting conflicts, as well as considering the effect of other important factors such as equity, incentive structures, social pressures, alliances, the nature of decision processes and information strategies. By adopting a broad comparative perspective and using international case studies, the authors are able to identify the similarities and differences in siting problems between nations, and the approaches and policies adopted. As well as extending the theoretical and comparative knowledge of siting conflicts, they also help to develop more robust and effective policies for managing and resolving future disputes. This book addresses a growing policy problem confronting all democratic nations. By exploring the lessons to be learned from international siting experiences, it will prove invaluable reading for academics, policymakers, government agencies, NGOs, and other societal interests involved in environmental and siting issues.

This unique book examines the problem of global warming from the perspective of Asian Pacific countries. The unprecedented economic and demographic growth over the past two decades has increased the importance of the Asian Pacific region. It has become both a very large source of greenhouse gases as well as an important site to measure climate change impacts. Complex economic tools including computable general equilibrium models, international input-output models and engineering-economic models are used to assess the baseline emission levels and abatement costs for the economies examined. All outcomes suggest that abatement is possible, but will be expensive. The studies also suggest that the more energy efficient the economy, the higher the costs of further abatement. The book reveals how Asian countries in the tropics are more likely to be harmed than those in the temperate zone. Alternative strategies to mitigate carbon emissions such as energy conservation, emission permit trading, carbon tax, and carbon sequestration are examined to tackle the difficult problem of establishing effective policy tools to control warming in the Asian Pacific and the globe. While no single author provides a complete answer to this complex problem, all authors provide vital information and new ideas with which to fashion workable international and regional policies. Global Warming and the Asian Pacific is likely to be read by scholars and researchers of Asian studies, environmental and resource economics, as well as policymakers and those specifically involved in global warming research and policy.

The Economics of Pollution Control in the Asia Pacific adapts environmental economics to the special conditions of the Asia Pacific region, emphasizing the importance of local conditions and culture. Global warming, air pollution and water pollution are all addressed by a distinguished group of authors who rigorously apply economics to the analysis of pollution control in societies undergoing rapid industrialization. As this pioneering volume demonstrates, citizens of rapidly developing Taiwan and Korea are willing to pay substantial amounts for the protection and improvement of air and water quality, and face potentially huge losses from global climate change. A number of the papers also point to some cost effective alternatives for helping to reduce global greenhouse gas emission. As this major book reveals, the make-up of Asian politico-economic systems has a direct impact on environmental policies, from benefit estimation to instrument choice. As the authors argue, policymakers and researchers in the Asia Pacific cannot draw on European and American methods, arguments and conclusions without considerable modification for regional conditions.

This insightful book explores the economic conditions and policy response of four major East Asian economies in the wake of the 2008 global economic crisis. Written by a distinguished group of Asian social scientists, this study summarizes and synthesizes the economic impacts of the crisis on individual countries and their policy response over the past few years, and in particular carefully scrutinizes the immediate and remote causes of the crisis. It not only offers an assessment of the impacts of the crisis, and identifies specific country measures that can be undertaken to stabilize the situation, but also looks at the crisis from three important economic perspectives: that of a healthy fiscal system, international trade, and the energy market. This insightful research monograph will be gratefully received by academics in economics and development studies as well as public policy think tanks. Government economic planning agencies in emerging countries, as well as international economic organizations and institutions such as World Bank and United Nations will also find plenty of key insights and important information in this path-breaking book.