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Cooperation in environmental policy: a spatial approach

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  • Ronald Davies
  • Helen Naughton

Abstract

Inefficient competition in emissions taxes for foreign direct investment creates benefits from international cooperation. In the presence of cross-border pollution, proximate (neighboring) countries have greater incentives to cooperate than distant ones as illustrated by a model of tax competition for mobile capital. Spatial econometrics is used to estimate participation in 110 international environmental treaties by 139 countries over 20 years. Empirical evidence of increased cooperation among proximate countries is provided. Furthermore, strategic responses in treaty participation vary across country groups between OECD and non-OECD countries and are most evident in regional agreements. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

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  • Ronald Davies & Helen Naughton, 2014. "Cooperation in environmental policy: a spatial approach," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 21(5), pages 923-954, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:itaxpf:v:21:y:2014:i:5:p:923-954
    DOI: 10.1007/s10797-013-9280-1
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    Cited by:

    1. Tibor Besedeš & Erik P. Johnson & Xinping Tian, 2020. "Economic determinants of multilateral environmental agreements," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 27(4), pages 832-864, August.
    2. Reiter, Franz, 2015. "Who Competes with Whom? The Structure of International Tax Competition," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 113189, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    3. Pavel Čížek & Jinghua Lei & Jenny E. Ligthart, 2017. "Do Neighbours Influence Value-Added-Tax Introduction? A Spatial Duration Analysis," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 79(1), pages 25-54, February.
    4. Atsushi Yamagishi, 2019. "Transboundary pollution, tax competition and the efficiency of uncoordinated environmental regulation," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 52(3), pages 1165-1194, August.
    5. Thierry Madiès & Ornella Tarola & Emmanuelle Taugourdeau, 2022. "Tax haven, pollution haven or both?," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 29(6), pages 1527-1560, December.
    6. Antoine Cazals & Alexandre Sauquet, 2015. "How do elections affect international cooperation? Evidence from environmental treaty participation," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 162(3), pages 263-285, March.
    7. Young Lee, 2020. "Competition in Corporate and Personal Income Tax: Evidence from 67 Developed and Developing Countries," Korean Economic Review, Korean Economic Association, vol. 36, pages 101-133.
    8. Bellelli, Francesco S. & Scarpa, Riccardo & Aftab, Ashar, 2023. "An empirical analysis of participation in international environmental agreements," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    9. Ronald B. Davies & Yutao Han & Kate Hynes & Yong Wang, 2020. "Competition in Taxes and IPR," Working Papers 202019, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    10. Le Gallo, Julie & Ndiaye, Youba, 2021. "Environmental expenditure interactions among OECD countries, 1995–2017," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 244-255.
    11. Hikaru Ogawa & Taiki Susa, 2017. "Majority voting and endogenous timing in tax competition," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 24(3), pages 397-415, June.
    12. Stefan Borsky & Paul A. Raschky, 2015. "Intergovernmental Interaction in Compliance with an International Environmental Agreement," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 2(2), pages 161-203.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Environmental agreements; Foreign direct investment; Spatial econometrics; F53; Q58;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F53 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Agreements and Observance; International Organizations
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

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