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The impact of FDI- and import-related technology spillovers from government-funded green energy R&D in developed countries on CO2 emissions in developing countries

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  • Herzer, Dierk

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of FDI- and import-related technology spillovers from government-funded green energy R&D in developed countries on CO2 emissions in developing countries. It focuses on the G7 countries as source countries for these spillovers and uses panel data for up to 63 developing countries between 2009 and 2020 to analyze whether such spillovers exist and whether their impact depends on the share of FDI and imports from developed countries, respectively, in the GDP of developing countries. For the full sample, we find no evidence that import-related spillovers from government-funded green energy R&D in developed countries reduce CO2 emissions in developing countries. In contrast, the results for the full sample indicate that reductions in CO2 emissions in developing countries are driven by FDI-related spillovers of government-funded green energy R&D in developed countries and that these reductions increase with the share of FDI from developed source countries in developing countries’ GDP. These findings based on total stocks of FDI- and import-share-weighted government-funded green energy R&D remain qualitatively unchanged when we use disaggregated foreign R&D stocks by green energy categories. Subsample regressions suggest that the magnitude of these spillovers varies with the level of industrialization and GDP per capita.

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  • Herzer, Dierk, 2025. "The impact of FDI- and import-related technology spillovers from government-funded green energy R&D in developed countries on CO2 emissions in developing countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:203:y:2025:i:c:s0301421525001429
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2025.114635
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • Q50 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - General
    • Q55 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Technological Innovation
    • 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
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

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