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Cleaner Firms or Cleaner Products? How Product Mix Shapes Emission Intensity from Manufacturing

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  • Geoffrey Barrows

    () (CREST - Centre de Recherche en Économie et Statistique - ENSAI - Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Analyse de l'Information [Bruz] - X - École polytechnique - ENSAE ParisTech - École Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Administration Économique - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Hélène Ollivier

    () (PSE - Paris School of Economics - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

We explore the contribution of product mix in determining firm and aggregate emission intensity. First, using detailed firm-product emission intensity data from India, we find that more efficient firms are less emission intensive, and that products with the largest sales tend to be cleaner than other products within the firm. We also find that emission intensity in India dropped significantly between 1990-2010 through reallocations across firms, while product mix played a counteracting role in increasing firm emission intensity. Next, we develop a multi-product multi-factor model with heterogeneous firms, variable markups, and monopolistic competition in which each product has a specific emission intensity. We find that pro-competitive market developments lead to an improvement in the aggregate emission intensity – through reallocations across firms – even though firms can become dirtier or cleaner through product mix. This theoretical result fits particularly well the empirical facts.

Suggested Citation

  • Geoffrey Barrows & Hélène Ollivier, 2018. "Cleaner Firms or Cleaner Products? How Product Mix Shapes Emission Intensity from Manufacturing," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-01630318, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:pseptp:halshs-01630318
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2017.10.008
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01630318
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. J. Scott Holladay & Lawrence D. LaPlue III, 2020. "Decomposing Changes in Establishment Level Emissions with Entry and Exit," Working Papers 2020-01, University of Tennessee, Department of Economics.
    2. LaPlue, Lawrence D., 2019. "The environmental effects of trade within and across sectors," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 118-139.
    3. Hélène Ollivier & Geoffrey Barrows, 2020. "Foreign Demand, Developing Country Exports, and CO2 Emissions: Firm-Level Evidence from India," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-03029861, HAL.
    4. Brucal, Arlan & Javorcik, Beata & Love, Inessa, 2019. "Good for the environment, good for business: Foreign acquisitions and energy intensity," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    5. Kreickemeier, Udo & Richter, Philipp M., 2019. "Environmental policy and firm selection in the open economy," Center for European, Governance and Economic Development Research Discussion Papers 373, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    6. Lawrence D. LaPlue & Christopher A. Erickson, 2020. "Outsourcing, trade, technology, and greenhouse gas emissions," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 22(2), pages 217-245, April.
    7. Agnolucci, Paolo & Arvanitopoulos, Theodoros, 2019. "Industrial characteristics and air emissions: Long-term determinants in the UK manufacturing sector," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 546-566.
    8. Geoffrey Barrows & Helene Ollivier, 2018. "Foreign Demand and Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Empirical Evidence with Implications for Leakage," Working Papers 2018.16, FAERE - French Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.
    9. Inma Martínez-Zarzoso & Shampa Roy-Mukherjee & Finn-Ole Semrau & Anca M. Voicu, 2020. "Pollution Reduction by Rationalization in Indian Firms," Working Papers 2020.01, International Network for Economic Research - INFER.
    10. Damien Dussaux & Francesco Vona & Antoine Dechezleprêtre, 2020. "Carbon Offshoring: Evidence from French Manufacturing Companies," Sciences Po publications 23/2020, Sciences Po.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • F18 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Environment
    • 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

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