Do environmental regulations harm international competitiveness? In answer to this question, this book focuses on the impact of regulatory policies on competitiveness and employment at the firm level. It investigates the trade-off between environmental regulations and competitiveness across countries and regions throughout Europe, using the food processing industry as a case study.The authors compare and contrast the experiences of similar firms across Europe to examine the different costs firms face in applying environmental regulations and the different levels of competitiveness they achieve as a result. The investigation includes a detailed and thorough comparison of the European food processing industries using 67 company case studies. The results show that firms can achieve national or international levels of competitiveness even when they face a relatively unfavourable level of regulatory costs. These important findings will almost certainly have general application to small and medium sized firms in other industries. This book will be welcomed by policymakers, practitioners, researchers and academics interested in industrial economics, environmental management and environmental economics.

This study focuses in detail on the environmental compliance/competitiveness relationship with respect to the regulation of packaging waste. An important and innovative feature of the study is its emphasis on backward and forward linkages. An entire supply chain is considered: packaging manufacturers and suppliers, food processors and the food retail sector, to study the competitive effects of environmental standards on manufacturing companies and the vertical links and supply responses. A variety of regulatory regimes is represented by including within the study companies from Germany, Italy, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. While it is of note that the relatively strong regulation in Germany has indeed had effects on company behaviour, there is no evidence that environmental regulations hindered companies from achieving competitive performance.Analyses consider: the response of individual firms to different levels of regulation; the cost of compliance; impact on employment; the influence of the supply chain on environmental and competitive performance; the importance of firm size and ownership; and the impact of regulation on competitiveness, and firm competitiveness on the efficiency of adjustment to regulation.

First published in 1999, this timely study emerged at a critical juncture for the EU and Ireland, and aimed to review the past development and future prospects of the Northern Ireland economy in the light of the European Union and its possible expansion. Esmond Birnie and David M.W.N. Hitchens examine the economic circumstances in the wake of Northern Ireland's longstanding position as a region which lags behind UK performance in the EU. Here, they update the data and discussion contained in an earlier study by the authors, Closing the Productivity Gap (1990), through discussions including engines of growth, the process of convergence and the current and likely development of Northern Ireland-Republic of Ireland economic links. This book will be of use to both academics, undergraduates, A-level students and the general reader.

First published in 1999, this timely study emerged at a critical juncture for the EU and Ireland, and aimed to review the past development and future prospects of the Northern Ireland economy in the light of the European Union and its possible expansion. Esmond Birnie and David M.W.N. Hitchens examine the economic circumstances in the wake of Northern Ireland's longstanding position as a region which lags behind UK performance in the EU. Here, they update the data and discussion contained in an earlier study by the authors, Closing the Productivity Gap (1990), through discussions including engines of growth, the process of convergence and the current and likely development of Northern Ireland-Republic of Ireland economic links. This book will be of use to both academics, undergraduates, A-level students and the general reader.