Divergence and Convergence of Automobile Fuel Economy Regulations: A Comparative Analysis of EU, Japan and the US

This book reveals the mechanism of the regulatory convergence of car fuel economy regulations between Europe, Japan and the United States (US) by drawing upon constructivist theory of International Relations and literature that focus on business competition and environmental regulations. It offers new understandings on the topic of ‘cars and carbon’ by: (1) dealing with the emerging phenomenon of convergence of car fuel economy regulations; (2) addressing the role of the business actor in pushing towards solution of climate change issue; (3) proposing the new model of ‘Agency with and beyond the states’; and (4) providing rich case studies from Europe, Japan and the US. Chapter 1: Introduction highlights the automobile industry and global climate change in order to provide an issue background. Chapter 2: Business Actors and Global Environmental Governance shows where the proposed monograph stands in the discipline of political science, and demonstrates how this book would advance the study of business actors in global environmental governance. Chapter 3: Construction of European Fuel Economy Regulations for Passenger Cars looks at how Europe' s climate policies for car CO₂ emissions have been constructed. It asks, how and why has the European Union (EU) introduced these standards, even before Japan and the United States? What factors influenced these regulations, and which actors were instrumental in the decision-making process? Chapter 4: Construction of Japanese Fuel Economy Regulations for Passenger Car argues that Japan adopted its stringent fuel economy regulation primarily because of industry competitiveness, which are motivated by stringent environmental regulations in export markets and encouraged by its tradition of 'co-regulation' and 'corporatism' to enhance the regulations. Chapter 5: Construction of the US Fuel Economy Regulations for Passenger Cars addresses why, despite the US being the world's first country to introduce fuel economy regulations, has US fuel economy regulation been stagnant for more than 20 years? What political dynamics pushed the former Bush Administration, which had withdrawn from the Kyoto Protocol negotiation in 2001, to improve the fuel economy regulation standard? Why are the recent US fuel economy regulations now converging with the Japanese and European standards? Chapter 6: Comparative Assessment compares and contrasts fuel economy regulations that draw implications to the target for 2015 and beyond, by comparing and contrasting fuel economy regulations among three case studies. Chapter 7: Conclusion provides broader implications to theories, explores applicability of ‘agency with and beyond the state’ model to other sectors, and to climate governance as a whole, by answering research questions.