ABSTRACT
The hypothesis that interjurisdictional competition affects regulation can be traced back to Immanuel Kant’s ‘Idea of a Universal History from a Cosmopolitan Point of View’ (1784):
The states are already in the present day involved in such close relations with each other that none of them can pause or slacken in its internal civilization without losing power and influence to the rest . . . Civil liberty cannot now be easily assailed without inflicting such damage as will be felt in all trades and industries, and especially in commerce; and this would entail a diminution of the powers of the state in external relations . . . If the citizen is hindered in seeking his prosperity in any way suitable to himself that is consistent with the liberty of others, the activity of business is checked generally; and thereby the powers of the whole state are again weakened.
