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Consumer waste, backhauling, and pollution havens

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Abstract

Pollution havens have received a great deal of attention in the past 15 years. However, the literature has focused almost exclusively on production side externalities and whether dirty industry migrates to countries with lax environmental laws. More recently, concerns have been raised about the rapid explosion of consumption side pollution such as e-waste and its trade in international markets. Between 1996 and 2007, US exports of waste plastics and ferrous waste along the USA-Asia trade route increased by 917% and 482%, respectively. Over the same time period the average freight rate on commercial liners along the USAAsia trade route fell by 46%, while average freight rates along the Asia-USA trade route increased by 2.9%. This paper develops a two country trade model with endogenous asymmetric transport costs as well as externalities associated with harmful waste generated from consumption. It shows that even when both governments set optimal Pigouvian taxes on the consumption of the dirty good, endogenous asymmetric transport costs can lower the backhaul rate from North to South. This creates an environmental arbitrage condition by which it is cheaper for the North to export its waste to the South rather than dispose of it at home. The model yields a number of clear predictions regarding the relationship between country characteristics, the international terms of trade, the backhaul shipping rate, and the Norths export supply function of waste.

Suggested Citation

  • Derek Kellenberg, 2010. "Consumer waste, backhauling, and pollution havens," Journal of Applied Economics, Universidad del CEMA, vol. 13, pages 283-304, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:cem:jaecon:v:13:y:2010:n:2:p:283-304
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    Cited by:

    1. Xu, Helian & Feng, Lianyue & Wu, Gang & Zhang, Qi, 2021. "Evolution of structural properties and its determinants of global waste paper trade network based on temporal exponential random graph models," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    2. Liang Guo & W. D. Walls & Xiaoli Zheng, 2023. "Waste Import Bans and Environmental Quality: Evidence from China’s Electronic Waste Disposal Towns," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 85(1), pages 65-108, May.
    3. Jungho Lee & Shang-Jin Wei & Jianhuan Xu, 2020. "The Welfare Cost of a Current Account Imbalance: A "Clean" Effect," NBER Working Papers 27276, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Stefania Lovo & Samantha Rawlings, 2021. "Garbage in, garbage out: the impact of e-waste dumping sites on early child health," Economics Discussion Papers em-dp2021-07, Department of Economics, University of Reading.
    5. Prudence Dato, 2015. "Economic analysis of e-waste market under imperfect information," Working Papers halshs-01172148, HAL.
    6. Aleksandra Falkowska, 2020. "The impact of environmental policy on location patterns in the waste management industry," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 37(1), pages 167-195, April.
    7. Esther Amouzou & Fabienne Boudier, 2016. "European trade in hazardous waste: has EU waste policy succeeded or failed?," Erudite Working Paper 2016-02, Erudite.
    8. Prudence Dato, 2017. "Economic analysis of e-waste market," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 17(6), pages 815-837, December.
    9. Keisaku Higashida, 2012. "Trade in Secondhand Goods, Monitoring of Illegal Trade, and Import Quotas on Legal Trade," Discussion Paper Series 90, School of Economics, Kwansei Gakuin University, revised Jun 2012.
    10. Massarutto, Antonio, 2014. "The long and winding road to resource efficiency – An interdisciplinary perspective on extended producer responsibility," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 11-21.
    11. Karima AFIF & Bocar Samba BA & Eugénie JOLTREAU, 2024. "Tax-subsidy schemes for recycling when quantity and quality of waste matter," Working Papers 2024.02, FAERE - French Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.
    12. Tobias Erhardt, 2019. "Garbage In and Garbage Out? On Waste Havens in Switzerland," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 73(1), pages 251-282, May.
    13. Wei, Shang-Jin & Lee, Jungho & Xu, Jianhuan, 2021. "The Welfare Cost of a Current Account Imbalance: A 'Clean' Channel," CEPR Discussion Papers 15805, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    14. Bowen Li & Antonio Alleyne & Zhaoyong Zhang & Yifei Mu, 2021. "Sustainability and Waste Imports in China: Pollution Haven or Resources Hunting," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-21, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    pollution havens; trade; environment; asymmetric trade costs; e-waste; backhauling;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth
    • F18 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Environment

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