Regulatory Competition and Economic Integration: Comparative Perspectives(International Economic Law Series)

Regulatory Competition and Economic Integration addresses one of the hottest policy questions on both sides of the Atlantic: at what level of government should regulation be undertaken? Whether called 'federalism' or 'subsidiarity', the struggle between those who wish to centralize governmental functions and those who seek to decentralize them looms large. Esty and Geradin bring together top-notch scholars from both Europe and the United States to examine the various aspects of the debate between 'harmonization' and 'regulatory competition' across three comparative dimensions: first, across regulatory areas (environment, banking, corporate law, labor, tax and antitrust); second, across models of economic integration (from highly integrated systems, such as the United States or the European Union, to loosely integrated regimes, such as the WTO); and third, across disciplinary perspectives (law, economics, business, political science). The book provides a sharp focus on the circumstances that would yield gains from regulatory competition and to contrast those cases where heightened co-operation in standard setting or broader regulatory harmonization might increase social welfare.

Table of Contents:
I. Introduction to Regulatory Competition Theory 1: Richard Revesz: Federalism and Regulation: Some Generalizations 2: Daniel C.Esty and Damien Geradin: Regulatory Co-Opetition II. Regulatory Competition Theory in the US System 3: Daniel Shaviro: Some Observations Concerning Multi-jurisdictional Tax Competition 4: Lucian Arye Bebchuk and Allen Ferrell: Federalism and Takeover Law: The Race to Protect Managers From Takeovers 5: Jonathan R. Macey: Regulatory Competition in the US Federal System: Banking and Financial Services 6: Mark Barenberg: Labor Federalism in the United States: Lessons for Coordinated Decentralization in Supranational Regimes 7: Kirsten Engel and Susan Rose-Ackerman: Environmental Federalism in the United States: The Risks of Devolution III. Regulatory Competition Theory in the EU Context 8: William Bratton and Joseph McCahery: Fiscal Federalism, Jurisdictional Competition and Tax Coordination: Translating Theory to Policy in the European Union 9: Simon Deakin: Regulatory Competition versus Harmonization in European Company Law 10: Gérard Hertig: Regulatory Competition in the EU System: Banking and Financial Services 11: Brian Bercusson: Regulatory Competition in the EU System: Labor 12: Michael Faure: Regulatory Competition vs. Harmonization in EU Environmental Law IV. Regulatory Competition at the Global Scale 13: Joel P. Trachtman: Regulatory Competition and Regulatory Jurisdiction in International Securities Regulation 14: David Charny: Regulatory Competition and the Global Coordination of Labor Standards 15: David Vogel: Environmental Regulation and Economic Integration 16: Eleanor M. Fox: Antitrust Law on a Global Scale: Races Up, Down, and Sideways 17: Inge Govaere and Paul Demaret: The TRIPS Agreement: A Response to Global Regulatory Competition or an Exercise in Global Regulatory Coercion?

About the Author :
Daniel C. Esty is Associate Dean of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and Clinical professor of Law at Yale Law School Damien Geradin is Associate Professor of Law at the University of Liege and Professor of Law at the College of Europe, Bruges

Review :
`... addresses one of the hottest policy questions on both sides of the Atlantic: At what level of government should regulation be undertaken?' Yale Law Report vol 28, no. 2, Summer 2001 `Regulatory Competition and Economic Integration provides lucid, informative, thought-provoking answers drawing on US, EU, and international experience in a variety of policy areas. Essential reading for students and reflective practitioners of regulation in today's globalizing economy.' Richard Stewart, University of New York `With ongoing trade liberalization and economic integration around the globe, does increasing competition require more regulatory co-ordination and harmonization to avoid a "race to the bottom" or should nations pursue their own approaches to regulation? This volume is an extraordinarily rich exploration of this fundamental question that cuts across different fields of regulation, employs a variety of methodical approaches, and draws on the experience in the U.S., Europe, and elsewhere. The essays by leading scholars from a number of disciplines provide the best treatment of this issue that I know of.' Wallace E. Oates, University of Maryland. `The question of regulatory competition has come to center stage with widespread fears of a race to the bottom in the rapidly integrating worl economy. This book, with penetrating and masterly essays by several of the leading authorities on the subject today, is therefore immensely timely. Read and be informed.' Jadish Bhagwati, Council on Foreign Relations `Like death and taxes, regulation will always be with us. But can regulatory competition serve public purposes at the local, national, and global levels? These experts from economics, business, law, and political science provide an interesting set of answers in a wide set of domains.' Joe Nye, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard `The integration of markets has created a policy dilemma, whether to harmonize regulatory systems or rather to permit competition between them. This volume contains an excellent survey of the key issues written by an impressive team of experts from both sides of the Atlantic.' Anthony Ogus