IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/cegedp/292.html

Are deep and comprehensive regional trade agreements helping to reduce air pollution?

Author

Listed:
  • Martínez-Zarzoso, Inmaculada
  • Oueslati, Walid

Abstract

This paper investigates whether membership in Regional Trade agreements (RTAs) with environmental provisions (EPs) affect relative and absolute levels of environmental quality and whether the inclusion of most comprehensive EPs is associated to higher environmental quality. In order to do so, the determinants of PM2.5 population weighted concentrations are estimated for a sample of OECD countries and OECD+BRIICS over the period 1990 to 2011. The usual controls for scale, composition and technique effects are added to the estimated model and the endogeneity of income and trade variables is addressed using instruments. The main results indicate that membership in RTAs with EPs is in general associated with higher environmental quality in absolute terms, whereas no significant results are found for RTAs without EPs. Moreover, the concentration in emissions of the pairs of countries that belong to an RTA with EPs tends to converge for the country sample.

Suggested Citation

  • Martínez-Zarzoso, Inmaculada & Oueslati, Walid, 2016. "Are deep and comprehensive regional trade agreements helping to reduce air pollution?," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 292, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:cegedp:292
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/147419/1/872122204.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Clive George, 2013. "Developments in Regional Trade Agreements and the Environment: 2012 Update," OECD Trade and Environment Working Papers 2013/4, OECD Publishing.
    2. Peter Gallagher & Ysé Serret, 2010. "Environment and Regional Trade Agreements: Developments in 2009," OECD Trade and Environment Working Papers 2010/1, OECD Publishing.
    3. Arik Levinson, 2015. "A Direct Estimate of the Technique Effect: Changes in the Pollution Intensity of US Manufacturing, 1990-2008," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 2(1), pages 43-56.
    4. Managi, Shunsuke & Hibiki, Akira & Tsurumi, Tetsuya, 2009. "Does trade openness improve environmental quality?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 58(3), pages 346-363, November.
    5. Martina Vidovic, 2016. "Are the Central East European Countries Pollution Havens?," Proceedings of International Academic Conferences 3505823, International Institute of Social and Economic Sciences.
    6. William T. Harbaugh & Arik Levinson & David Molloy Wilson, 2002. "Reexamining The Empirical Evidence For An Environmental Kuznets Curve," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(3), pages 541-551, August.
    7. Werner Antweiler & Brian R. Copeland & M. Scott Taylor, 2001. "Is Free Trade Good for the Environment?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(4), pages 877-908, September.
    8. Stern, David I., 2004. "The Rise and Fall of the Environmental Kuznets Curve," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(8), pages 1419-1439, August.
    9. de Sousa, José, 2012. "The currency union effect on trade is decreasing over time," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 117(3), pages 917-920.
    10. Clive George, 2014. "Environment and Regional Trade Agreements: Emerging Trends and Policy Drivers," OECD Trade and Environment Working Papers 2014/2, OECD Publishing.
    11. Shahidur R. Khandker & Gayatri B. Koolwal & Hussain A. Samad, 2010. "Handbook on Impact Evaluation : Quantitative Methods and Practices," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2693, April.
    12. Cole, Matthew A., 2003. "Development, trade, and the environment: how robust is the Environmental Kuznets Curve?," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 8(4), pages 557-580, October.
    13. Ghosh, S. & Yamarik, S., 2006. "Do Regional Trading Arrangements Harm the Environment?. An Analysis of 162 Countries in 1990," Applied Econometrics and International Development, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 6(2).
    14. David H. Romer & Jeffrey A. Frankel, 1999. "Does Trade Cause Growth?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(3), pages 379-399, June.
    15. Jeffrey A. Frankel & Andrew K. Rose, 2005. "Is Trade Good or Bad for the Environment? Sorting Out the Causality," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(1), pages 85-91, February.
    16. Badinger, Harald, 2008. "Trade policy and productivity," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(5), pages 867-891, July.
    17. David I. Stern, 2014. "The Environmental Kuznets Curve: A Primer," CCEP Working Papers 1404, Centre for Climate & Energy Policy, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.
    18. Baghdadi, Leila & Martinez-Zarzoso, Inmaculada & Zitouna, Habib, 2013. "Are RTA agreements with environmental provisions reducing emissions?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(2), pages 378-390.
    19. Dinda, Soumyananda, 2004. "Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis: A Survey," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 431-455, August.
    20. Guido W. Imbens & Jeffrey M. Wooldridge, 2009. "Recent Developments in the Econometrics of Program Evaluation," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(1), pages 5-86, March.
    21. Gene M. Grossman & Alan B. Krueger, 1991. "Environmental Impacts of a North American Free Trade Agreement," NBER Working Papers 3914, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    22. Clive George, 2011. "Regional Trade Agreements and the Environment: Monitoring Implementation and Assessing Impacts: Report on the OECD Workshop," OECD Trade and Environment Working Papers 2011/2, OECD Publishing.
    23. Eleanor Doyle & Inmaculada Martinez-Zarzoso, 2011. "Productivity, Trade, and Institutional Quality: A Panel Analysis," Southern Economic Journal, Southern Economic Association, vol. 77(3), pages 726-752, January.
    24. Richard T. Carson, 2010. "The Environmental Kuznets Curve: Seeking Empirical Regularity and Theoretical Structure," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 4(1), pages 3-23, Winter.
    25. Marianne Bertrand & Esther Duflo & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "How Much Should We Trust Differences-In-Differences Estimates?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(1), pages 249-275.
    26. Peter Gallagher & Ysé Serret, 2011. "Implementing Regional Trade Agreements with Environmental Provisions: A Framework for Evaluation," OECD Trade and Environment Working Papers 2011/6, OECD Publishing.
    27. Cole, Matthew A. & Elliott, Robert J. R., 2003. "Determining the trade-environment composition effect: the role of capital, labor and environmental regulations," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 363-383, November.
    28. Tsurumi Tetsuya & Managi Shunsuke & Hibiki Akira, 2015. "Do Environmental Regulations Increase Bilateral Trade Flows?," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 15(4), pages 1549-1577, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kolcava, Dennis & Nguyen, Quynh & Bernauer, Thomas, 2019. "Does trade liberalization lead to environmental burden shifting in the global economy?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 98-112.
    2. Samreen Gillani & Hafiz Syed Mohsin Abbas, 2025. "Impact of government expenditures, foreign direct investment, trade openness, and energy consumption on ecological footprints in selected Asian economies," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 4167-4184, February.
    3. William Bekoe & Talatu Jalloh, 2023. "Assessing the Economic Implications of Free Trade on Environmental Quality: Empirical Evidence from Africa," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 84(1), pages 19-36, January.
    4. Berger, Axel & Brandi, Clara & Bruhn, Dominique & Chi, Manjiao, 2017. "Towards “greening” trade? Tracking environmental provisions in the preferential trade agreements of emerging markets," IDOS Discussion Papers 2/2017, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    5. Brandi, Clara & Schwab, Jakob & Berger, Axel & Morin, Jean-Frédéric, 2020. "Do environmental provisions in trade agreements make exports from developing countries greener?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).

    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. Inmaculada Martínez-Zarzoso & Walid Oueslati, 2018. "Do deep and comprehensive regional trade agreements help in reducing air pollution?," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 18(6), pages 743-777, December.
    2. Baghdadi, Leila & Martinez-Zarzoso, Inmaculada & Zitouna, Habib, 2013. "Are RTA agreements with environmental provisions reducing emissions?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(2), pages 378-390.
    3. Zakaria Sorgho & Joe Tharakan, 2022. "Do PTAs with Environmental Provisions Reduce GHG Emissions? Distinguishing the Role of Climate-Related Provisions," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 83(3), pages 709-732, November.
    4. Jevan M. Cherniwchan & M. Scott Taylor, 2022. "International Trade and the Environment: Three Remaining Empirical Challenges," NBER Working Papers 30020, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Balsalobre, Daniel & Shahzad, Syed Jawad Hussain, 2018. "The Influencing Factors of CO2 Emissions and the Role of Biomass Energy Consumption: Statistical Experience from G-7 Countries," MPRA Paper 87456, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 14 Jun 2018.
    6. Natalia Zugravu-Soilita, 2019. "Trade in Environmental Goods and Air Pollution: A Mediation Analysis to Estimate Total, Direct and Indirect Effects," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 74(3), pages 1125-1162, November.
    7. Thais NUNEZ-ROCHA & Inmaculada MARTíNEZ-ZARZOSO, 2018. "Is National Environmental Legislation Affecting Emissions?," LEO Working Papers / DR LEO 2505, Orleans Economics Laboratory / Laboratoire d'Economie d'Orleans (LEO), University of Orleans.
    8. Pascalau, Razvan & Qirjo, Dhimitri, 2017. "TTIP and the Environmental Kuznets Curve," MPRA Paper 80192, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Fernández-Amador, Octavio & Francois, Joseph F. & Oberdabernig, Doris A. & Tomberger, Patrick, 2017. "Carbon Dioxide Emissions and Economic Growth: An Assessment Based on Production and Consumption Emission Inventories," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 269-279.
    10. William Bekoe & Talatu Jalloh, 2023. "Assessing the Economic Implications of Free Trade on Environmental Quality: Empirical Evidence from Africa," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 84(1), pages 19-36, January.
    11. Sorgho, Zakaria & Tharakan, Joe, 2022. "Do PTAs with environmental provisions reduce GHG emissions? Distinguishing the effectiveness of climate-related provisions," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2022012, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    12. Dhimitri Qirjo & Razvan Pascalau, 2019. "The Role of TTIP on the Environment," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 85(4), pages 1262-1285, April.
    13. Zakaria Sorgho & Tharakan Joe, 2020. "Do PTAs with environmental provisions reduce emissions? Assessing the effectiveness of climate-related provisions?," Working Papers hal-03004353, HAL.
    14. Pradyot Ranjan Jena, 2018. "Does trade liberalization create more pollution? Evidence from a panel regression analysis across the states of India," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 20(4), pages 861-877, October.
    15. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Nasreen, Samia & Ahmed, Khalid & Hammoudeh, Shawkat, 2017. "Trade openness–carbon emissions nexus: The importance of turning points of trade openness for country panels," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 221-232.
    16. Mansor H. Ibrahim & Siong Hook Law, 2016. "Institutional Quality and CO 2 Emission–Trade Relations: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 84(2), pages 323-340, June.
    17. Aller, Carlos & Ductor, Lorenzo & Herrerias, M.J., 2015. "The world trade network and the environment," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(PA), pages 55-68.
    18. Managi, Shunsuke, 2012. "Trade, economic growth and environment," IDE Discussion Papers 342, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    19. Le Hoang Phong & Dang Thi Bach Van & Ho Hoang Gia Bao, 2018. "The Role of Globalization on CO2 Emission in Vietnam Incorporating Industrialization, Urbanization, GDP per Capita and Energy Use," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 8(6), pages 275-283.
    20. P. Srinivasan & Inder Siddanth Ravindra, 2015. "Causality among Energy Consumption, CO2 Emission, Economic Growth and Trade," Foreign Trade Review, , vol. 50(3), pages 168-189, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • F18 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Environment
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • L60 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - General
    • Q43 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Energy and the Macroeconomy

    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:zbw:cegedp:292. 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cdgoede.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.