External effects of domestic regulations: comparing internal and international barriers to trade

In a world in which barriers to trade at all levels-international and inter nal-are mostly a by-product of the implementation by governments of differe nt regulatory policies to deal with "domestic" or "local" problems such as environmental degradation, health, and labor standards, the article purport s to show how the mechanisms that are set in motion by the operation of com petition among the governments inhabiting the different jurisdictional tier s of federal countries lead to outcomes that are different from those gener ated by the 'agreed-upon' rules that govern the relations of national gover nments with each other in matters of international trade. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.