Unravelling the worldwide pollution haven effect

Abstract

SummaryThis paper tackles the "pollution haven" argument by estimating the pollution content of imports (PCI). The PCI is then decomposed into three components: (i) a "deep" component (i.e. traditional variables unrelated to the environmental debate); (ii) a factor endowment component and (iii) a "pollution haven" component reflecting the impact of differences in environmental policies. The estimation is carried out for 1987 for an extensive data set covering 10 pollutants, 48 countries and 79 ISIC 4-digit sectors. Decompositions based on cross-section econometric estimates suggest a significant pollution haven effect which increases the PCI of the North because of stricter environmental regulations in the North. At the same time, the factor endowment effect lowers the PCI of the North, as the North is relatively well-endowed in capital and pollution-intensive activities are capital intensive. On a global scale, because the bulk of trade is intra-regional with a high North-North share, these effects are small relative to the "deep" determinants of the worldwide PCI. In sum, differences in factor endowments and environmental policies have only marginally affected the PCI of world trade at the end of the eighties. Keywords: Trade and The Environment, Pollution Haven Effect, Factor Endowment Effect JEL Classification: F18, Q56We thank Werner Antweiler, Andrea Baranzini, Marius Brülhart, Olivier Cadot, Matthew Cole, Céline Carrère, Robert Elliott, Gene Grossman, Jaya Krishnakumar, Bernard Sinclair-Desgagné, Scott Taylor, David Wheeler, two referees and participants at the ETSG meeting in Dublin (2005) and a seminar at the PSE in 2007 for comments on an earlier draft. This is an extensively revised version of Grether et al. (2006) AbstractThis paper tackles the "pollution haven" argument by estimating the pollution content of imports (PCI). The PCI is then decomposed into three components: (i) a "deep" component JEL Classification numbers: F18, Q56Key Words: Trade and the environment, pollution haven effect, factor endowment effect 1 We thank

Does market competition dampen environmental performance? Evidence from China

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