Many previous studies have performed empirical analysis regarding the pollution haven hypothesis, which posits that investment is attracted to countries whose environmental regulations are lax. The results of some empirical studies seem to confirm the hypothesis, while the results of other empirical studies do not. This study performed empirical analysis on Japan, where society has matured and interest in environmental protection has grown. It studied whether foreign direct investment by three pollution-intensive sectors in the manufacturing industry (pulp and paper, chemical and pharmaceutical, ferrous and non-ferrous metals) has been influenced by the strictness of environmental regulations in twenty-four countries/regions in North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region, using ratification of environmental treaties as a proxy for strictness. The results showed that some models of the pulp and paper sector and the chemical and pharmaceutical sector indicated positive pollution haven effects, and most models of the ferrous and non-ferrous metals sector indicated positive effects. This demonstrates the converse effect of pollution havens.

This article analyzes the processes that the federal government of Germany decides on and implements regarding the phase-out of nuclear power plants, with a focus on the interaction between federal, state, and municipal governments, as well as E.on, the power company that operates the plant. As a result, the following points that were not described in the existing literature were revealed: 1) E.on acquired the opportunity to directly negotiate with the federal government, and succeeded in obtaining conditions such as the ability to transfer to other reactors the production capacities of the nuclear reactors that would be decommissioned earlier before using up their planned capacities; 2) although the City of Stade was not involved in nuclear policy decision-making, it managed to secure financial support from the federal and state governments and from E.on to reconstruct its economy and secure jobs after the federal government made the nuclear phase-out decision; and 3) under an SPD-led government, the Federal State of Lower Saxony decided on a nuclear phase-out earlier than the federal government, but some SPD politicians, reflecting the position of the City of Stade, were in favor of operating nuclear power plants within the state as long as possible after the federal government decided on the nuclear phase-out.

Avoided costs of renewable energies have been used for calculating additional costs to purchase electricity from renewables under feed-in tariffs (FiT) in Japan. Historically, the concept of avoided costs had been the basis of tariffs for purchasing electricity from decentralized power plants in areas without wholesale electricity markets in the United States (U.S.). This article reviews the concepts and calculation methodologies of avoided costs of renewable energies in the U.S., with a particular focus on avoided energy costs. Based on this review, the total amount of avoided costs of renewable energies under FiT in Japan is calculated and compared with the amount calculated based on METI’s methodologies. This paper concludes that, in the latter estimate, the amount of avoided costs must have been undervalued, and as a result, an excessive FiT surcharge imposed.

This study investigates the value of forest ecosystem services (biodiversity preservation, disaster risk reduction, and water retention) in three prefectures in the Kinki region of Japan (Shiga, Kyoto, and Osaka). Under the commonly used subjective valuation method, values might be overestimated due to social desirability bias. To avoid this problem, we employ the inferred valuation method to estimate the value of three services that forests provide (biodiversity preservation, disaster risk reduction, and water retention). We then compare those values with the values produced by the subjective valuation method. Our results show a significant discrepancy between the values calculated under the subjective and inferred valuation methods. Most values estimated using inferred valuation are almost half as low as those under subjective valuation, or even lower. Our results also show that respondents outside Shiga Prefecture put much less value on local biodiversity in Shiga Prefecture—they put no or little value on local biodiversity in the prefecture.