Regulatory competition: accounting for the transnational dimension of environmental regulation

This article argues that the study of regulatory competition can be significantly enhanced by taking into account the impact of transnational environmental law and regulation. The rapid growth of environmental regulation beyond the level of the state does not foreclose opportunities for competition, but it will affect how environmental regulators compete. Most importantly, national as well as non-state regulators may become less inclined to 'race to the bottom' or 'race to the top'. Instead, transnational environmental regulation triggers the emergence of new competitive patterns that respond more strongly to the design, mode of instrumentalisation, implementation and governance of environmental standards than to their quantity and stringency.