Environment and Economic Benefits through the Preference for More Open Commercial Policy

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to explore the determinants of individuals’ opinions about relaxed economic policy regime, whether more open economic activities benefit the country and its people. As this is a study at the micro level, thus questionnaire survey is conducted in Bangkok area. The binary analysis is employed to address the explanatory power of relevant variables. According to statistical tests, logit estimation is more accurate than the probit model. The estimated models indicate that, among other things, individuals’ perception about the liberalization of economic regime seems to sustain the strongest cause for the issues regarding the gains from more open economic activities. Furthermore, the findings show the explanatory power of the Stolper-Samuelson Theorem and the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis.