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Import Competition and Environmental Performance: Evidence from Mexican Plant-level and Satellite Imagery Data

Author

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  • Emilio Gutierrez

    (Centro de Investigacion Economica (CIE), Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico (ITAM))

  • Kensuke Teshima

    (Centro de Investigacion Economica (CIE), Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico (ITAM))

Abstract

We investigate the impact of international trade, in particular import competition, on the environment. We tackle this question from a new perspective, i.e., whether trade liberalization affects production plants' environmental performance by changing incentives of firms to undertake two types of investment: investment in the environment and in efficient energy use, and investment in technology in general. Identifying such effects empirically has been challenging. Not only is it unusual to obtain direct information on plants' environmental performance as well as plants' effort towards environmental protection; it is also difficult to find an exogenous source of variation in tariffs on goods produced by plants. We overcome these difficulties by constructing a unique combination of Mexican plant-level data and satellite imagery data, thus providing evidence of the effects of import competition on three direct measures: energy efficiency in terms of electricity use; investment at the plant level in efficient energy and the environment; and measures of pollution around plants' geographic location. We use tariff changes due to free trade agreements as shocks to import competition, which are arguably less endogenous than unilateral tariff reduction and have been shown to have no systematic correlation with initial plant-level characteristics. The key finding is that the reduction of tariffs on goods produced by Mexican plants induced them to increase efficiency in energy use, thus allowing them to reduce pollution and in turn also reduce direct investment in efficient energy and environmental protection. The results suggest that even when detailed data on environmental effort at the plant level are available, caution should be taken when trying to measure the effects of openness to trade on environmental performance, as trade is also likely to change the firms' incentive to invest in technology in general, which may indirectly be more environmentally friendly.

Suggested Citation

  • Emilio Gutierrez & Kensuke Teshima, 2011. "Import Competition and Environmental Performance: Evidence from Mexican Plant-level and Satellite Imagery Data," Working Papers 1101, Centro de Investigacion Economica, ITAM.
    • Handle: RePEc:cie:wpaper:1101
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. J. Scott Holladay, 2016. "Exporters and the environment," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 49(1), pages 147-172, February.
    2. Cherniwchan, Jevan, 2017. "Trade liberalization and the environment: Evidence from NAFTA and U.S. manufacturing," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 130-149.
    3. Montufar Helu Jiménez, Alejandro, 2013. "Reformas en la producción y distribución eléctrica y su relación con el sector manufacturero: el impacto de la sustitución de Luz y Fuerza del Centro por la Comisión Federal de Electricidad," MPRA Paper 49507, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Di Ubaldo, Mattia, 2016. "Firms and trade in downturns," Economics PhD Theses 0416, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    5. Geoffrey Barrows & Helene Ollivier, 2016. "Emission intensity and firm dynamics: reallocation, product mix, and technology in India," GRI Working Papers 245, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
    6. Emilio Gutierrez, 2015. "Air quality and infant mortality in Mexico: evidence from variation in pollution concentrations caused by the usage of small-scale power plants," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 28(4), pages 1181-1207, October.

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