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Pollution Haven or Halo? Evidence from Foreign Acquisitions in Indonesia

Author

Listed:
  • Inessa Love

    (University of Hawaii)

  • Beata Javorcik

    (Department of Economics)

  • Arlan Brucal

    (Grantham Institute, LSE)

Abstract

The link between foreign ownership and environmental performance remains a controversial issue. This paper contributes to our understanding of this subject by analyzing the impact of foreign acquisitions on plant-level environmental performance. The analysis applies a difference-in-differences approach combined with coarsened exact matching to the data from the Indonesian Manufacturing Census for the period 1983-2001. It covers 264 acquisition cases where an acquired plant is observed a year before and at least three years after an ownership change and for which a carefully selected control plant exists. The results suggest that while foreign ownership increases the overall energy usage, due to expansion of output, it decreases the plant's energy intensity.

Suggested Citation

  • Inessa Love & Beata Javorcik & Arlan Brucal, 2017. "Pollution Haven or Halo? Evidence from Foreign Acquisitions in Indonesia," 2017 Meeting Papers 306, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    • Handle: RePEc:red:sed017:306
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Aoife Hanley & Finn Ole Semrau, 2022. "Stepping up to the mark? Firms’ export activity and environmental innovation in 14 European countries," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(5), pages 672-700, May.
    3. Ahmad Alim Bachri & Ellyn Normelani, 2020. "FDI, Income, and Environmental Pollution in Indonesia," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 10(6), pages 383-389.

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