Has economic integration lowered the level of environmental standards in developing countries? Many observers think so. But in this study Jale Tosun argues that this need not necessarily be the case. As the case studies on Chile and Mexico reveal, trade interlinkage with developed countries can yield a positive impact on the level of environmental policy setting. At the implementation stage, however, developing countries try to evade enhanced regulatory burdens through reduced enforcement activities. Tosun explains this behaviour by developing a two-level interaction model, which integrates...