Link between regulatory competition and international standard setting (harmonisation) The literature on regulatory competition focuses on two distinct conver- gence outcomes, namely the adaptation of national standards in reac- tion to competitive pressure – most likely in a downward direction – and the adoption of common, harmonised standards at the international (or European) level in order to create a level playing field. While it is assumed that pressure to reduce production costs for domestic indus- tries vis-a`-vis foreign competitors will lead governments to lower xxxx- dards related to the production process, international harmonisation is anticipated in the field of product regulation, where countries may other- wise close their domestic market to products not complying with national standards. While high-standard countries may have the leverage to ban foreign goods, both high- and low-standard countries have an interest in open markets, and hence the interest in common standards is shared. Our case studies confirm that for both product standards we inves- tigated – lead in petrol and noise emission standards for lorries – har- monisation was actively pursued and motivated – at least partly – by concerns of regulatory competition. In the lead in petrol case, Xxxxx (Chapter 4) concedes that given the relatively low overall cost for reduc- ing or removing lead in petrol, competitiveness concerns did not create much pressure to level the playing field. Nevertheless, he argues that France was motivated by economic considerations in resisting the adop- tion of a high standard. Specifically, France was concerned less with costs for the oil and refinery industry responsible for limiting lead in petrol, but with costs incurred indirectly by its automobile industry, which would be forced to adopt the technology of catalytic converters. The costs of introducing noise emission standards for lorries, in contrast, appeared significant. Pesendorfer (Chapter 5) describes how the Nether- lands and France – the two countries where the lorry industry was most strongly exposed to international competition – were eager to establish international standards. Regardless of their technological capacities, 280 Xxxxxx Xxxxxxxx, Xxxxxx Xxxxxxxxxx and Xxxxx Xx¨rgens however, these countries pursued divergent goals. While the Netherlands was actively pushing for the adoption of strict standards, France argued for harmonisation at a ‘doable’ lower regulatory level. France’s resistant atti...
Link between. Engineering Material in Primary Form and Engineered Material Product A link between an engineering material product in primary form and an engineering material product is provided by a material process. The process has: the engineering material in primary form as an input; the engineering material product as output. If the process is not of interest, then a “short cut” relationship can be provided. In this figure the arrows are named relationships, and are not necessarily in the direction of material flow. Each relationship is shown with an inverse. The diagram says that: material process ABC has engineering material in primary form XYZ as input and engineered material product PQR as output; engineered material product PQR is made from engineering material in primary form XYZ.
