IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ift/wpaper/1321.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Do Trade and Investment Flows Lead to Higher CO2 Emissions? Some Panel Estimation Results

Author

Listed:
  • Debashis Chakraborty

    (Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Kolkata, India)

  • Sacchidananda Mukherjee

    (National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi, India)

Abstract

Over the last decade cross-country trade and investment flows have increased considerably, which is often linked to climate change concerns. The present analysis attempts to understand the influence of trade and investment flows on CO2 emissions through panel data model estimation for a set of 181 countries over 1990-2009. The empirical findings confirm that both in case of lower and higher income countries, higher merchandise trade growth in general and service and merchandise export growth in particular leads to the higher CO2 emission growth in their territories. Both FDI inward and outward stock is found to be positively related to CO2 emission, reflecting a complementary relationship between the two. The empirical results indicate that the composition, scale and technology effects significantly influence the trade-climate change interrelationship.

Suggested Citation

  • Debashis Chakraborty & Sacchidananda Mukherjee, 2013. "Do Trade and Investment Flows Lead to Higher CO2 Emissions? Some Panel Estimation Results," Working Papers 1321, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade.
    • Handle: RePEc:ift:wpaper:1321
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: ftp://203.190.248.10/RePEc/ift/workingpapers/EC-13-21.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2013
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. de Bruyn, S. M. & van den Bergh, J. C. J. M. & Opschoor, J. B., 1998. "Economic growth and emissions: reconsidering the empirical basis of environmental Kuznets curves," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 161-175, May.
    2. Talberth, John & Bohara, Alok K., 2006. "Economic openness and green GDP," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(4), pages 743-758, July.
    3. Cristea, Anca & Hummels, David & Puzzello, Laura & Avetisyan, Misak, 2013. "Trade and the greenhouse gas emissions from international freight transport," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 153-173.
    4. Virginia D. McConnell & Robert M. Schwab, 1990. "The Impact of Environmental Regulation on Industry Location Decisions: The Motor Vehicle Industry," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 66(1), pages 67-81.
    5. Boys, Kathryn A. & Grant, Jason H., 2010. "Iso 14000 Standards: Voluntary Environmental Governance As A Trade Facilitation Strategy?," 2010 Annual Meeting, July 25-27, 2010, Denver, Colorado 61855, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    6. Mahvash Saeed Qureshi, 2006. "Trade Liberalization, Environment and Poverty: A Developing Country Perspective," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2006-45, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    7. David Popp, 2011. "International Technology Transfer, Climate Change, and the Clean Development Mechanism," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 5(1), pages 131-152, Winter.
    8. Adam B. Jaffe et al., 1995. "Environmental Regulation and the Competitiveness of U.S. Manufacturing: What Does the Evidence Tell Us?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 33(1), pages 132-163, March.
    9. Matthew A. Cole & Robert J.R. Elliott & Jing Zhang, 2011. "Growth, Foreign Direct Investment, And The Environment: Evidence From Chinese Cities," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(1), pages 121-138, February.
    10. Messerlin, Patrick A., 2010. "Climate change and trade policy : from mutual destruction to mutual support," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5378, The World Bank.
    11. Youguo Zhang, 2012. "Scale, Technique and Composition Effects in Trade-Related Carbon Emissions in China," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 51(3), pages 371-389, March.
    12. Donna Lee & Jian Zhang, 2009. "Efficiency, equity, and environmental implications of trade liberalization: A computable general equilibrium analysis," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(3), pages 347-371.
    13. List, John A. & Co, Catherine Y., 2000. "The Effects of Environmental Regulations on Foreign Direct Investment," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 1-20, July.
    14. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/5l6uh8ogmqildh09h2q83h42k is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Agras, Jean & Chapman, Duane, 1999. "A dynamic approach to the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 267-277, February.
    16. He, Jie, 2006. "Pollution haven hypothesis and environmental impacts of foreign direct investment: The case of industrial emission of sulfur dioxide (SO2) in Chinese provinces," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 228-245, November.
    17. Baek, Jungho & Cho, Yongsung & Koo, Won W., 2009. "The environmental consequences of globalization: A country-specific time-series analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(8-9), pages 2255-2264, June.
    18. 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..
    19. Eskeland, Gunnar S. & Harrison, Ann E., 2003. "Moving to greener pastures? Multinationals and the pollution haven hypothesis," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 1-23, February.
    20. Lucas, Robert E.B. & Wheeler, David & Hettige, Hemamala, 1992. "Economic development, environmental regulation, and the international migration of toxic industrial pollution : 1960-88," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1062, The World Bank.
    21. Congleton, Roger D, 1992. "Political Institutions and Pollution Control," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 74(3), pages 412-421, August.
    22. Zaman, Khalid & Khan, Muhammad Mushtaq & Ahmad, Mehboob & Khilji, Bashir Ahmad, 2012. "The relationship between agricultural technologies and carbon emissions in Pakistan: Peril and promise," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 29(5), pages 1632-1639.
    23. Garnett, Tara, 2011. "Where are the best opportunities for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the food system (including the food chain)?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(S1), pages 23-32.
    24. Costantini, Valeria & Mazzanti, Massimiliano, 2012. "On the green and innovative side of trade competitiveness? The impact of environmental policies and innovation on EU exports," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 132-153.
    25. Ang, James B., 2009. "CO2 emissions, research and technology transfer in China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(10), pages 2658-2665, August.
    26. Josh Ederington & Arik Levinson & Jenny Minier, 2005. "Footloose and Pollution-Free," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(1), pages 92-99, February.
    27. Helen Tammela Naughton, 2010. "Globalization and Emissions in Europe," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 7(2), pages 503-519, December.
    28. Yuquing Xing & Charles Kolstad, 2002. "Do Lax Environmental Regulations Attract Foreign Investment?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 21(1), pages 1-22, January.
    29. Garnett, Tara, 2011. "Where are the best opportunities for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the food system (including the food chain)?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(Supplemen), pages 23-32, January.
    30. Richard Schmalensee & Thomas M. Stoker & Ruth A. Judson, 1998. "World Carbon Dioxide Emissions: 1950-2050," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 80(1), pages 15-27, February.
    31. Yushi Yoshida & Satoshi Honma, 2011. "Did International Trade Become Dirtier in Developing Countries? On the Composition Effect of International Trade on the Environment," Discussion Papers 52, Kyushu Sangyo University, Faculty of Economics.
    32. Hyun Seok Kim & Won W. Koo, 2011. "Impacts of regulating greenhouse gas emissions on livestock trade flows," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 42(6), pages 679-684, November.
    33. Kakali Mukhopadhyay, 2006. "Impact on the Environment of Thailand's Trade with OECD Countries," STUDIES IN TRADE AND INVESTMENT, in: Xuan Zengpei & Joong-Wan Cho & Marc Proksch & Yann Duval (ed.), Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Review, volume 2, chapter 2, pages 25-46, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
    34. Alassane Drabo, 2011. "Agricultural primary commodity export and environmental degradation: what consequences for population's health?," CERDI Working papers halshs-00586034, HAL.
    35. Giovanni Marin & Massimiliano Mazzanti, 2013. "The evolution of environmental and labor productivity dynamics," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 357-399, April.
    36. Gavrilova, Olga & Jonas, Matthias & Erb, Karlheinz & Haberl, Helmut, 2010. "International trade and Austria's livestock system: Direct and hidden carbon emission flows associated with production and consumption of products," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(4), pages 920-929, February.
    37. Kim, Man-Keun & Pang, Arwin, 2011. "Impact of Regulating Greenhouse Gas Emissions on US Cattle Industry and Trade Competitiveness," 2011 Annual Meeting, July 24-26, 2011, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 103705, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    38. Managi, Shunsuke & Kumar, Surender, 2009. "Trade-induced technological change: Analyzing economic and environmental outcomes," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 721-732, May.
    39. Matthew A. Cole & Robert J. R. Elliott, 2005. "FDI and the Capital Intensity of “Dirty” Sectors: A Missing Piece of the Pollution Haven Puzzle," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(4), pages 530-548, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Debashis Chakraborty & Sacchidananda Mukherjee, 2013. "Do Foreign Trade and Investment Lead to Higher CO2 Emissions? Evidence from Cross-Country Empirical Estimates," Review of Market Integration, India Development Foundation, vol. 5(3), pages 329-361, December.
    2. Wen Jun & Muhammad Zakaria & Syed Jawad Hussain Shahzad & Hamid Mahmood, 2018. "Effect of FDI on Pollution in China: New Insights Based on Wavelet Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-20, October.
    3. Assad Ullah & Xinshun Zhao & Muhammad Abdul Kamal & Jiajia Zheng, 2022. "Environmental regulations and inward FDI in China: Fresh evidence from the asymmetric autoregressive distributed lag approach," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(1), pages 1340-1356, January.
    4. Jing Lan & Makoto Kakinaka & Xianguo Huang, 2012. "Foreign Direct Investment, Human Capital and Environmental Pollution in China," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 51(2), pages 255-275, February.
    5. Imad Moosa, 2019. "The Environmental Effects of FDI: Evidence from MENA Countries," Working Papers 1321, Economic Research Forum, revised 21 Aug 2019.
    6. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Nasreen, Samia & Abbas, Faisal & Anis, Omri, 2015. "Does foreign direct investment impede environmental quality in high-, middle-, and low-income countries?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 275-287.
    7. Naughton, Helen T., 2014. "To shut down or to shift: Multinationals and environmental regulation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 113-117.
    8. Edward Manderson & Richard Kneller, 2012. "Environmental Regulations, Outward FDI and Heterogeneous Firms: Are Countries Used as Pollution Havens?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 51(3), pages 317-352, March.
    9. José-Antonio Monteiro & Madina Kukenova, 2008. "Does Lax Environmental Regulation Attract FDI When Accounting For "Third-Country" Effects?," IRENE Working Papers 08-01, IRENE Institute of Economic Research.
    10. Mohamed Ali Hfaiedh & Wajdi Bardi, 2021. "Does FDI and Corruption affect Environmental Quality in Tunisia?," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 11(4), pages 267-275.
    11. Lorena D’Agostino, 2015. "How MNEs respond to environmental regulation: integrating the Porter hypothesis and the pollution haven hypothesis," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 32(2), pages 245-269, August.
    12. Sylwia Bialek & Alfons J. Weichenrieder, 2021. "Do Stringent Environmental Policies Deter FDI? M&A versus Greenfield," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 80(3), pages 603-636, November.
    13. Tarek Bel Hadj & Adel Ghodbane, 2022. "A Moderated Mediation Model of the Effect of Foreign Direct Investments on CO2 Emissions: Panel Data Evidence from GCC Countries," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 13(2), pages 904-925, June.
    14. Jiajia Zheng & Pengfei Sheng, 2017. "The Impact of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on the Environment: Market Perspectives and Evidence from China," Economies, MDPI, vol. 5(1), pages 1-15, March.
    15. Zhang, Chuanguo & Zhou, Xiangxue, 2016. "Does foreign direct investment lead to lower CO2 emissions? Evidence from a regional analysis in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 943-951.
    16. Yan, Yan & Li, Yi, 2023. "Technology spillovers, strategic environmental policy, and foreign direct investment," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(PA).
    17. Grégoire Garsous & Tomasz Kozluk, 2017. "Foreign Direct Investment and The Pollution Haven Hypothesis: Evidence from Listed Firms," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1379, OECD Publishing.
    18. Jung‐Ah Hwang & Yeonbae Kim, 2017. "Effects of Environmental Regulations on Trade Flow in Manufacturing Sectors: Comparison of Static and Dynamic Effects of Environmental Regulations," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(5), pages 688-706, July.
    19. Wajdi Bardi & Mohamed Ali Hfaiedh, 2021. "Causal Interaction between FDI, Corruption and Environmental Quality in the MENA Region," Economies, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-12, February.
    20. Jensen, Camilla & Mina, Andrea, 2019. "Did transition bring cleaner air? Effects of ownership, territorial and technology policy on air pollution," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 1-1.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    environment and trade; foreign direct investment; climate change; democracy.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F21 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements
    • 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

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:ift:wpaper:1321. 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: S. Balasubramanian (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iifttin.html .

    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.