Corruption, rule of law and international interaction in environmental pollution and CBRN terrorism

The dissertation consists of three separate projects. The first project studies illegal trade in chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) controlled by the Montreal Protocol. Since data on illegal trade is not available, the analysis starts with a model of illegal trade in CFCs that derives predictions about the effect of corruption, the rule of law and environmental tariffs on both legal and illegal imports of CFCs. The theoretical predictions concerning legal imports are tested using panel data on CFC consumption. Although both corrupt and honest regimes with weak and strong rule of law, respectively, have relatively high legal imports, illegal and total imports in the former are much higher than in the latter, indicating lower environmental performance.; The second project examines transboundary air pollution in Europe where the focus is on a corruptible environmental inspector and a firm who collude to underreport pollution levels. Since part of the emissions from one nation falls on the territory of neighboring countries, transboundary spillovers are taken into account. The theoretical model derives predictions about the effect of corruption, the rule of law and transbpundary spillovers on both actual and reported emissions. The hypothesized relationships regarding reported emissions are tested using spatial econometric techniques and the EMEP data on sulphur pollution. Both corrupt and honest regimes with weak and strong legal systems, respectively, have relatively low emission reports, however, actual emissions and consequently pollution are much higher in the former than in the latter.; The third project investigates the influence of democratic principles, the rule of law and corruption on the likelihood of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) terrorist incidents. Odds ratios establish that democratic rule, strong rule of law, and noncorrupt regimes are associated with more CBRN incidents. Failed states may be where some terrorist groups form or take refuge, but these states have not been the venue of choice for CBRN incidents. Religious (cults and fundamentalists) and nationalist/separatist groups are not more likely than others to engage in CBRN attacks. The results of negative binomial regressions support the conjecture that democratic rule and strong rule of law are positive determinants of CBRN incidents.