Environmental Policy,Public Interest and Political Market

In this paper, we highlight the factorswhich influence governments in theirdecision to implement environmentalpolicies of varying degrees of severity. Wesubstantiate our arguments with analyticalevidence from the public interest theoryand the economic theory of regulation(``interest group theory''). We show, throughempirical analysis based on the policies of22 OECD countries, that pressure groupshave sufficient impact on environmentalregulation so that the economic theorypredominates over the public interesttheory.     

Quebec's Caisse de dépôt et placement: tool of nationalism

Abstract: As Canada's sixth-ranking financial institution, holding a major equity share in several of the country's largest corporations, Quebec's Caisse de dkppbt et placement has been the object of criticism and suspicion from the business community and even the federal government. But despite the important questions raised by the investment activities of the Caisse, this agency has not been subject to the careful analysis which is warranted by its size and role as an instrument of economic development. Questions regarding the precise nature of the relationship between the Quebec government and decision-makers in the Caisse, and between the Caisse and the corporations in which it holds a major equity stake, remain unanswered. This article examines the role of the Caisse as an instrument of economic policy. In the first section the origins and growth of the Caisse are placed in the theoretical context of economic nationalism. The second part of this article examines the investment activities of the Caisse since the PQ came to power. We argue that there is little evidence to support claims that the investment policy of this agency is influenced in a direct and systematic way by the political objectives of the PQ government. Sommaire. La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, étant classée au sixième rang parmi les institutions financières et ayant acquis la majorité des actions ordinaires de plusieurs des plus grandes entreprises du pays, a été le sujet de critiques et suspicions de la part de la communauté des affaires et même du gouvernement fédéral. Malgré les importantes questions qui se posent en raison de ses activités d'investissements, la Caisse n'a pas été assujettie à la scrupuleuse analyse que justifieraient sa grandeur et son rôle en tant qu'instrument de développement économique. Les questions, traitant de la nature précise des relations entre le gouvemement québécois et les dirigeants de la Caisse, et celles de la Caisse et des corporations dans lesquelles elle détient une part majoritaire, restent sans réponses.