Issues of Environmental and Labor Standards in the Global Trading System.

There have been increasing calls in recent years in the United States and other major industrial-ized countries for actions designed to harmonize domestic policies, institutions, and practices especially with regard to trade-related environmental and labor standards. As pointed out by Anderson (1996) and Bhagwati (1996), these calls for action have been motivated by a host of moral, economic, structural, and political factors. The purpose of our paper is to investigate the analytics, empirical evidence, institu-tional arrangements, and available policy options for addressing the issues involved.