'Free Trade and the Environment' examines the impact of international economic integration on the environment, taking as a case study the experience of Mexico, as it transformed itself from one of the most closed economies in the world to one of the mostopen.

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and its companion agreement, the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC), provide important and often underappreciated protection for the environmental laws of the Party states: Canada, Mexico, and the United States. On the twentieth anniversary of NAFTA's ratification, this book assesses the current state of environmental protection under those agreements. Bringing together scholars, practitioners, and regulators from all three Party states, it outlines the scope and process of NAFTA and NAAEC, their impact on specific environmental issues, and paths to reform. It includes analyses of the impact of the agreements on such matters as bioengineered crops in Mexico, assessment of marine environmental effects, potential lessons for China, climate change, and indigenous rights. Together, the chapters of this book represent an important contribution to the global conversation concerning international trade agreements and sustainable development.

"Many of the papers included in this volume were first presented and discussed in the Spring of 2000 at a conference on lessons from the NAFTA for the FTAA"--Pref.

Despite three decades of continuous globalization, transitional economies in many countries remain marginalized. In order to maximize the positive growth of employment creation opportunities in various sectors, including agriculture, existing patterns of long-run sustainable equilibrium relationships, technology transfers, and trade to promote export-led economic growth must be examined and identified. Regional Trade and Development Strategies in the Era of Globalization provides a comprehensive overview of globalization and regional initiative trends of trade and development through the examination of theoretical and practical experiences of their underpinning principles through approaches to overcome the obstacles of globalization and its positive and negative impacts on global trade and economic development. The content within this publication examines economic integration, foreign investment, and financial risk. It is designed for trade specialists, government officials, students, researchers, policymakers, business professionals, academicians, and economists.

John R. Moroney and Flory Dieck-Assad cogently assess Mexico's goals of sustainability and the major policy changes that will be required to achieve them.

Analyzes the extent to which foreign investment in Mexico's information technology sector brought economic, social, and environmental benefits to Guadalajara. Foreign investment has been widely perceived as a panacea for developing countries—as a way to reduce poverty and kick-start sustainable modern industries. The Enclave Economy calls this prescription into question, showing that Mexico's post-NAFTA experience of foreign direct investment in its information technology sector, particularly in the Guadalajara region, did not result in the expected benefits. Charting the rise and fall of Mexico's “Silicon Valley,” the authors explore issues that resonate through much of Latin America and the developing world: the social, economic, and environmental effects of market-driven globalization. In the 1990s, Mexico was a poster child for globalization, throwing open its borders to trade and foreign investment, embracing NAFTA, and ending the government's role in strengthening domestic industry. But The Enclave Economy shows that although Mexico was initially successful in attracting multinational corporations, foreign investments waned in the absence of active government support and as China became increasingly competitive. Moreover, the authors find that foreign investment created an “enclave economy” the benefits of which were confined to an international sector not connected to the wider Mexican economy. In fact, foreign investment put many local IT firms out of business and transferred only limited amounts of environmentally sound technology. The authors suggest policies and strategies that will enable Mexico and other developing countries to foster foreign investment for sustainable development in the future.