IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/asieco/v79y2022ics1049007821000981.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Can trade liberalization promote green production? Evidence from China's manufacturing enterprises

Author

Listed:
  • Liu, Mengdi
  • Zhang, Bing
  • Liao, Xianchun

Abstract

Whether international trade causes environmental damage to developing countries has caused widespread concern. We estimate trade liberalization's impact on environmental performance using unique firm-level pollution data in China. By using maximum tariff rates from China's accession agreement as instrumental variables for actual tariff rates, we find that cuts in import tariffs enhance the average SO2 emission. Changes in the composition of products in the polluting and non-polluting industries can explain the substantial increase in the average SO2 emission. However, using multiple firm-level indicators, we demonstrate the existence of the trade-induced technique effect that trade liberalization can promote cleaner production.

Suggested Citation

  • Liu, Mengdi & Zhang, Bing & Liao, Xianchun, 2022. "Can trade liberalization promote green production? Evidence from China's manufacturing enterprises," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:asieco:v:79:y:2022:i:c:s1049007821000981
    DOI: 10.1016/j.asieco.2021.101369
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1049007821000981
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.asieco.2021.101369?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Arik Levinson, 2015. "A Direct Estimate of the Technique Effect: Changes in the Pollution Intensity of US Manufacturing, 1990-2008," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 2(1), pages 43-56.
    2. Feng, Ling & Li, Zhiyuan & Swenson, Deborah L., 2016. "The connection between imported intermediate inputs and exports: Evidence from Chinese firms," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 86-101.
    3. Jan De Loecker & Pinelopi K. Goldberg & Amit K. Khandelwal & Nina Pavcnik, 2016. "Prices, Markups, and Trade Reform," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 84, pages 445-510, March.
    4. Svetlana Batrakova & Ronald Davies, 2012. "Is there an environmental benefit to being an exporter? Evidence from firm-level data," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 148(3), pages 449-474, September.
    5. Chris Edmond & Virgiliu Midrigan & Daniel Yi Xu, 2015. "Competition, Markups, and the Gains from International Trade," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(10), pages 3183-3221, October.
    6. Maria Bas & Vanessa Strauss-Kahn, 2013. "Input-Trade Liberalization, Export Prices and Quality Upgrading," Sciences Po publications 2013-13, Sciences Po.
    7. Liang Chen & B. Cecilia Garcia‐Medina & Rui Wan, 2019. "Trade liberalization, consumption shifting and pollution: Evidence from Mexico's used vehicle imports," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(5), pages 1591-1608, November.
    8. Judith M. Dean & Mary E. Lovely & Hua Wang, 2017. "Are foreign investors attracted to weak environmental regulations? Evaluating the evidence from China," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Mary E Lovely (ed.), International Economic Integration and Domestic Performance, chapter 9, pages 155-167, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    9. Mary Amiti & Jozef Konings, 2007. "Trade Liberalization, Intermediate Inputs, and Productivity: Evidence from Indonesia," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(5), pages 1611-1638, December.
    10. Hiau Looi Kee & Heiwai Tang, 2016. "Domestic Value Added in Exports: Theory and Firm Evidence from China," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(6), pages 1402-1436, June.
    11. Brandt, Loren & Morrow, Peter M., 2017. "Tariffs and the organization of trade in China," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 85-103.
    12. Joseph S. Shapiro & Reed Walker, 2018. "Why Is Pollution from US Manufacturing Declining? The Roles of Environmental Regulation, Productivity, and Trade," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(12), pages 3814-3854, December.
    13. Nicholas Bloom & Mirko Draca & John Van Reenen, 2016. "Trade Induced Technical Change? The Impact of Chinese Imports on Innovation, IT and Productivity," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 83(1), pages 87-117.
    14. Chintrakarn, Pandej & Millimet, Daniel L., 2006. "The environmental consequences of trade: Evidence from subnational trade flows," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 430-453, July.
    15. Kasahara, Hiroyuki & Rodrigue, Joel, 2008. "Does the use of imported intermediates increase productivity? Plant-level evidence," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 106-118, August.
    16. Yi Lu Jr. & Linhui Yu Jr., 2015. "Trade Liberalization and Markup Dispersion: Evidence from China's WTO Accession," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 7(4), pages 221-253, October.
    17. Mary Amiti & Amit K. Khandelwal, 2013. "Import Competition and Quality Upgrading," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(2), pages 476-490, May.
    18. 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.
    19. Judith M. Dean, 2002. "Does trade liberalization harm the environment? A new test," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 35(4), pages 819-842, November.
    20. László Halpern & Miklós Koren & Adam Szeidl, 2015. "Imported Inputs and Productivity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(12), pages 3660-3703, December.
    21. Andrew Atkeson & Ariel Tomás Burstein, 2010. "Innovation, Firm Dynamics, and International Trade," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 118(3), pages 433-484, June.
    22. Eric A. Verhoogen, 2008. "Trade, Quality Upgrading, and Wage Inequality in the Mexican Manufacturing Sector," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 123(2), pages 489-530.
    23. Brian R. Copeland & M. Scott Taylor, 1994. "North-South Trade and the Environment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 109(3), pages 755-787.
    24. Arik Levinson, 2009. "Technology, International Trade, and Pollution from US Manufacturing," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(5), pages 2177-2192, December.
    25. Haichao Fan & Yao Amber Li & Stephen R. Yeaple, 2015. "Trade Liberalization, Quality, and Export Prices," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 97(5), pages 1033-1051, December.
    26. Jeffrey A. Frankel & Andrew K. Rose, 2005. "Is Trade Good or Bad for the Environment? Sorting Out the Causality," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(1), pages 85-91, February.
    27. Forslid, Rikard & Okubo, Toshihiro & Ulltveit-Moe, Karen Helene, 2018. "Why are firms that export cleaner? International trade, abatement and environmental emissions," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 166-183.
    28. Daniela Marconi, 2012. "Environmental Regulation and Revealed Comparative Advantages in Europe: Is China a Pollution Haven?," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(3), pages 616-635, August.
    29. Amit K. Khandelwal & Peter K. Schott & Shang-Jin Wei, 2013. "Trade Liberalization and Embedded Institutional Reform: Evidence from Chinese Exporters," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(6), pages 2169-2195, October.
    30. Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg & Amit Kumar Khandelwal & Nina Pavcnik & Petia Topalova, 2010. "Imported Intermediate Inputs and Domestic Product Growth: Evidence from India," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 125(4), pages 1727-1767.
    31. Loren Brandt & Johannes Van Biesebroeck & Luhang Wang & Yifan Zhang, 2017. "WTO Accession and Performance of Chinese Manufacturing Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(9), pages 2784-2820, September.
    32. Matilde Bombardini & Bingjing Li, 2016. "Trade, Pollution and Mortality in China," NBER Working Papers 22804, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    33. Jonathan Eaton & Samuel Kortum, 2002. "Technology, Geography, and Trade," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 70(5), pages 1741-1779, September.
    34. Miaojie Yu, 2015. "Processing Trade, Tariff Reductions and Firm Productivity: Evidence from Chinese Firms," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 125(585), pages 943-988, June.
    35. Paula Bustos, 2011. "Trade Liberalization, Exports, and Technology Upgrading: Evidence on the Impact of MERCOSUR on Argentinian Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(1), pages 304-340, February.
    36. Liu, Mengdi & Shadbegian, Ronald & Zhang, Bing, 2017. "Does environmental regulation affect labor demand in China? Evidence from the textile printing and dyeing industry," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 277-294.
    37. Lu, Jiangyong & Lu, Yi & Tao, Zhigang, 2010. "Exporting behavior of foreign affiliates: Theory and evidence," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(2), pages 197-205, July.
    38. Petia Topalova & Amit Khandelwal, 2011. "Trade Liberalization and Firm Productivity: The Case of India," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(3), pages 995-1009, August.
    39. Cole, Matthew A. & Elliott, Robert J. R., 2003. "Determining the trade-environment composition effect: the role of capital, labor and environmental regulations," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 363-383, November.
    40. Werner Antweiler & Brian R. Copeland & M. Scott Taylor, 2001. "Is Free Trade Good for the Environment?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(4), pages 877-908, September.
    41. Bas, Maria & Strauss-Kahn, Vanessa, 2015. "Input-trade liberalization, export prices and quality upgrading," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(2), pages 250-262.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zhu, Chen & Xia, Yuqing & Liu, Qing & Hou, Bojun, 2023. "Deregulation and green innovation: Does cultural reform pilot project matter," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 84-105.
    2. Liu, Xueyue & Liu, Yu & Zhao, Ruili, 2023. "Import competition and energy efficiency: Firms' responses to the WTO accession in China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 214(C), pages 670-690.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fan, Haichao & Li, Yao Amber & Yeaple, Stephen R., 2018. "On the relationship between quality and productivity: Evidence from China's accession to the WTO," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 28-49.
    2. Ling-Yun He & Liang Wang, 2019. "Import Liberalization of Intermediates and Environment: Empirical Evidence from Chinese Manufacturing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-15, May.
    3. Barrows, Geoffrey & Ollivier, Hélène, 2021. "Foreign demand, developing country exports, and CO2 emissions: Firm-level evidence from India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    4. Copestake, Alexander & Zhang, Wenzhang, 2023. "Inputs, networks and quality-upgrading: Evidence from China in India," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    5. Liu, Mengdi & Tan, Ruipeng & Zhang, Bing, 2021. "The costs of “blue sky”: Environmental regulation, technology upgrading, and labor demand in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    6. Imbruno, Michele & Ketterer, Tobias D., 2018. "Energy efficiency gains from importing intermediate inputs: Firm-level evidence from Indonesia," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 117-141.
    7. Bas, Maria & Paunov, Caroline, 2021. "Disentangling trade reform impacts on firm market and production decisions," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    8. Fan, Haichao & Gao, Xiang & Li, Yao Amber & Luong, Tuan Anh, 2018. "Trade liberalization and markups: Micro evidence from China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 103-130.
    9. Liu, Qing & Qiu, Larry D., 2016. "Intermediate input imports and innovations: Evidence from Chinese firms' patent filings," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 166-183.
    10. Jingbo Cui & On Kit Tam & Bei Wang & Yan Zhang, 2020. "The environmental effect of trade liberalization: Evidence from China's manufacturing firms," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(12), pages 3357-3383, December.
    11. He, Ling-Yun & Huang, Geng, 2021. "How can export improve firms’ energy efficiency? The role of innovation investment," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 90-97.
    12. Fan, Haichao & Lin, Faqin & Lin, Shu, 2020. "The hidden cost of trade liberalization: Input tariff shocks and worker health in China," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    13. Maria Bas & Caroline Paunov, 2019. "What gains and distributional implications result from trade liberalization," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 19003, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
    14. He, Ling-Yun & Huang, Geng, 2023. "Can importing improve the energy efficiency? Theory and evidence from Chinese industrial firms," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 451-469.
    15. Amiti, Mary & Dai, Mi & Feenstra, Robert C. & Romalis, John, 2020. "How did China's WTO entry affect U.S. prices?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    16. Feng, Ling & Li, Zhiyuan & Swenson, Deborah L., 2016. "The connection between imported intermediate inputs and exports: Evidence from Chinese firms," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 86-101.
    17. Yu Xiang & Jing Zheng & Xunhua Tu, 2022. "The Impact of Intermediate Goods Imports on Energy Efficiency: Empirical Evidence from Chinese Cities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-23, October.
    18. Jiayun Xu & Qilin Mao, 2018. "On the relationship between intermediate input imports and export quality in China," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 26(3), pages 429-467, July.
    19. 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.
    20. Bai, Xue & Hong, Shengjie & Wang, Yaqi, 2021. "Learning from processing trade: Firm evidence from China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 579-602.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:asieco:v:79:y:2022:i:c:s1049007821000981. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/asieco .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.