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Is bioenergy trade good for the environment?

Author

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  • Jean-Marc Bourgeon

    (INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, X-DEP-ECO - Département d'Économie de l'École Polytechnique - X - École polytechnique - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris)

  • Hélène Ollivier

    (ARE - Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

We analyze the impacts of bioenergy trade on greenhouse gas emissions using a two-good, three-factor model. Bioenergy is an agricultural good used as a substitute for fossil fuels in industry. Governments tax domestic pollution without international coordination. We assume that northern countries have higher labor productivity than southern ones and that agriculture is less pollution intensive than industry (after taxation). We show that whereas southern countries impose a lower tax rate than northern ones, they do not necessary have a competitive advantage in industry, and that compared to autarky, trade liberalization either increases or decreases worldwide emissions depending on regional comparative advantages.

Suggested Citation

  • Jean-Marc Bourgeon & Hélène Ollivier, 2012. "Is bioenergy trade good for the environment?," Post-Print hal-00750733, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00750733
    DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2011.11.002
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-00750733v1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Copeland, Brian R & Taylor, M Scott, 1995. "Trade and Transboundary Pollution," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(4), pages 716-737, September.
    2. Schipper, Lee & Murtishaw, Scott & Khrushch, Marta & Ting, Michael & Karbuz, Sohbet & Unander, Fridtjof, 2001. "Carbon emissions from manufacturing energy use in 13 IEA countries: long-term trends through 1995," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(9), pages 667-688, July.
    3. Searchinger, Timothy & Heimlich, Ralph & Houghton, R. A. & Dong, Fengxia & Elobeid, Amani & Fabiosa, Jacinto F. & Tokgoz, Simla & Hayes, Dermot J. & Yu, Hun-Hsiang, 2008. "Use of U.S. Croplands for Biofuels Increases Greenhouse Gases Through Emissions from Land-Use Change," Staff General Research Papers Archive 12881, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    4. Jaroslav Vanek, 1963. "Variable Factor Proportions and Interindustry Flows in the Theory of International Trade," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 77(1), pages 129-142.
    5. Bourgeon, Jean-Marc & Ollivier, Hélène, 2012. "Is bioenergy trade good for the environment?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(3), pages 411-421.
    6. Swee Chua, 2003. "Does tighter environmental policy lead to a comparative advantage in less polluting goods?," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 55(1), pages 25-35, January.
    7. Oecd, 2006. "Agricultural Market Impacts of Future Growth in the Production of Biofuels," OECD Papers, OECD Publishing, vol. 6(1), pages 1-57.
    8. Brian R. Copeland & M. Scott Taylor, 1997. "A Simple Model of Trade, Capital Mobility, and the Environment," NBER Working Papers 5898, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Hélène Ollivier, 2016. "North–South Trade and Heterogeneous Damages from Local and Global Pollution," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 65(2), pages 337-355, October.
    2. Bourgeon, Jean-Marc & Ollivier, Hélène, 2012. "Is bioenergy trade good for the environment?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(3), pages 411-421.
    3. Jámbor, Attila & Balogh, Jeremiás Máté, 2020. "Az agrárkereskedelem környezeti hatásainak vizsgálata szisztematikus szakirodalmi áttekintés segítségével [Investigating environmental effects of agricultural trade through a systematic review of t," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(9), pages 930-949.
    4. Jeremiás Máté Balogh & Attila Jámbor, 2020. "The Environmental Impacts of Agricultural Trade: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-16, February.
    5. Mao, Rui & Liu, Yuhang & Wang, Xiaoxi, 2023. "Economic and environmental impacts of agricultural non-tariff measures: evidence based on ad valorem equivalent estimates," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 26(3), January.
    6. Panxian Wang & Zimeng Ren & Guanghua Qiao, 2023. "How Does Agricultural Trade Liberalization Have Environmental Impacts? Evidence from a Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-18, June.
    7. Wei, Wenjie, 2014. "Welfare and Environmental Effects of Subsidies and Tariffs in North-South Trade in Renewable Energy Equipment," 2014 Conference (58th), February 4-7, 2014, Port Macquarie, Australia 165887, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    8. Chen, Yang & Shao, Shuai & Fan, Meiting & Tian, Zhihua & Yang, Lili, 2022. "One man's loss is another's gain: Does clean energy development reduce CO2 emissions in China? Evidence based on the spatial Durbin model," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    9. Bozhechkova Alexandra & Trunin Pavel & Sinelnikova-Muryleva Elena & Petrova Diana & Chentsov Alexander, 2018. "Building of monetary and currency markets models," Research Paper Series, Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy, issue 175P, pages 1-96.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Bioenergy; Intermediate product; North-South trade; Global pollution;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F18 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Environment
    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • Q17 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agriculture in International Trade

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