IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jecomi/v5y2017i1p8-d92253.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Impact of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on the Environment: Market Perspectives and Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Jiajia Zheng

    (School of Business, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China)

  • Pengfei Sheng

    (School of Economic, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China)

Abstract

Foreign direct investment (FDI) may have a positive effect on the level of pollution in host countries, as described by the pollution haven hypothesis (PHH). However, this kind of effect may depend on the economic conditions in host countries. In this study, we conduct research on the FDI’s effect on China’s CO 2 emissions during the market-oriented reform. The results are as follows. Firstly, FDI directly promotes China’s CO 2 emissions. Secondly, with market-oriented reform, this positive effect from FDI is lowering year by year, which indicates that the market-oriented reform could alleviate the positive effect of FDI on China’s CO 2 emissions. Thirdly, as China’s market-oriented reform was implemented gradually from experimental zones to the whole country, regional market development is uneven, and as such so is FDI’s effect on local CO 2 emissions. Provinces in the eastern area generally evidenced higher market development and lower CO 2 emissions from FDI, while four provinces in west area evidenced both lower market development and higher CO 2 emissions from FDI.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jecomi:v:5:y:2017:i:1:p:8-:d:92253
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7099/5/1/8/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7099/5/1/8/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Meng, Ming & Mander, Sarah & Zhao, Xiaoli & Niu, Dongxiao, 2016. "Have market-oriented reforms improved the electricity generation efficiency of China's thermal power industry? An empirical analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 734-741.
    2. repec:rre:publsh:v:39:y:2009:i:3:p:239-52 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Randy Becker & Vernon Henderson, 2000. "Effects of Air Quality Regulations on Polluting Industries," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 108(2), pages 379-421, April.
    4. Robert Hoffmann & Chew-Ging Lee & Bala Ramasamy & Matthew Yeung, 2005. "FDI and pollution: a granger causality test using panel data," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(3), pages 311-317.
    5. Tonghui Lian & Tingyu Ma & Jie Cao & You Wu, 2016. "The effects of environmental regulation on the industrial location of China’s manufacturing," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 80(2), pages 1381-1403, January.
    6. Rubashkina, Yana & Galeotti, Marzio & Verdolini, Elena, 2015. "Environmental regulation and competitiveness: Empirical evidence on the Porter Hypothesis from European manufacturing sectors," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 288-300.
    7. Zeng, Dao-Zhi & Zhao, Laixun, 2009. "Pollution havens and industrial agglomeration," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 141-153, September.
    8. Grossman, G.M & Krueger, A.B., 1991. "Environmental Impacts of a North American Free Trade Agreement," Papers 158, Princeton, Woodrow Wilson School - Public and International Affairs.
    9. O. Ashton Morgan & Simon Condliffe, 2009. "Spatial Heterogeneity in Environmental Regulation Enforcement and the Firm Location Decision among U.S. Counties," Working Papers 09-12, Department of Economics, Appalachian State University.
    10. Lin, Boqiang & Du, Kerui, 2015. "Energy and CO2 emissions performance in China's regional economies: Do market-oriented reforms matter?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 113-124.
    11. 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.
    12. 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.
    13. 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.
    14. 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..
    15. 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.
    16. Breitung, Jorg & Hassler, Uwe, 2002. "Inference on the cointegration rank in fractionally integrated processes," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 110(2), pages 167-185, October.
    17. Im, Kyung So & Pesaran, M. Hashem & Shin, Yongcheol, 2003. "Testing for unit roots in heterogeneous panels," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 115(1), pages 53-74, July.
    18. Jing Zhang & Xiaolan Fu, 2008. "FDI and environmental regulations in China," Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(3), pages 332-353.
    19. 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.
    20. 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.
    21. Al-mulali, Usama & Foon Tang, Chor, 2013. "Investigating the validity of pollution haven hypothesis in the gulf cooperation council (GCC) countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 813-819.
    22. Silva, Emilson C.D. & Zhu, Xie, 2009. "Emissions trading of global and local pollutants, pollution havens and free riding," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 169-182, September.
    23. Di, Wenhua, 2007. "Pollution abatement cost savings and FDI inflows to polluting sectors in China," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(6), pages 775-798, December.
    24. 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.
    25. Du, Kerui & Lu, Huang & Yu, Kun, 2014. "Sources of the potential CO2 emission reduction in China: A nonparametric metafrontier approach," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 491-501.
    26. Harris, Richard D. F. & Tzavalis, Elias, 1999. "Inference for unit roots in dynamic panels where the time dimension is fixed," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 91(2), pages 201-226, August.
    27. Hadri, Kaddour, 1996. "A note on Sargan densities," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1-2), pages 285-290.
    28. Cole, Matthew A., 2004. "Trade, the pollution haven hypothesis and the environmental Kuznets curve: examining the linkages," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 71-81, January.
    29. Fare, Rolf & Grosskopf, Shawna & Pasurka, Carl Jr., 2007. "Pollution abatement activities and traditional productivity," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(3-4), pages 673-682, May.
    30. Cole, Matthew A. & Fredriksson, Per G., 2009. "Institutionalized pollution havens," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(4), pages 1239-1256, February.
    31. Chung, Sunghoon, 2014. "Environmental regulation and foreign direct investment: Evidence from South Korea," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 222-236.
    32. Kellenberg, Derek K., 2009. "An empirical investigation of the pollution haven effect with strategic environment and trade policy," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(2), pages 242-255, July.
    33. Levin, Andrew & Lin, Chien-Fu & James Chu, Chia-Shang, 2002. "Unit root tests in panel data: asymptotic and finite-sample properties," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 108(1), pages 1-24, May.
    34. Kearsley, Aaron & Riddel, Mary, 2010. "A further inquiry into the Pollution Haven Hypothesis and the Environmental Kuznets Curve," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(4), pages 905-919, February.
    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. Wei Liu & Hong-Bo Shi & Zhe Zhang & Sang-Bing Tsai & Yuming Zhai & Quan Chen & Jiangtao Wang, 2018. "The Development Evaluation of Economic Zones in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, January.
    2. Jun Liu & Yuhui Zhao & Zhonghua Cheng & Huiming Zhang, 2018. "The Effect of Manufacturing Agglomeration on Haze Pollution in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-15, November.
    3. Agata Mesjasz-Lech, 2021. "Municipal Urban Waste Management—Challenges for Polish Cities in an Era of Circular Resource Management," Resources, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-18, May.
    4. Ren, Yi-Shuai & Ma, Chao-Qun & Apergis, Nicholas & Sharp, Basil, 2021. "Responses of carbon emissions to corruption across Chinese provinces," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    5. Jiansheng You & Guohan Ding & Liyuan Zhang, 2022. "Heterogeneous Dynamic Correlation Research among Industrial Structure Distortion, Two-Way FDI and Carbon Emission Intensity in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-23, July.
    6. Frida NGO WENGUI & Florin-Aurelian BIRCHI & Fidoline NGO NONGA & Fidoline Moustapha SANE, 2022. "Foreign Direct Investment And Environmental Sustainability Of Agricultural Holdings In Cameroon," Management and Marketing Journal, University of Craiova, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, vol. 0(2), pages 263-276, November.
    7. Wasi Ul Hassan Shah & Rizwana Yasmeen & Muddassar Sarfraz & Larisa Ivascu, 2023. "The Repercussions of Economic Growth, Industrialization, Foreign Direct Investment, and Technology on Municipal Solid Waste: Evidence from OECD Economies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, January.
    8. Zheng, Jiajia & Kamal, Muhammad Abdul, 2020. "The effect of household income on residential wastewater output: Evidence from urban China," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    9. Sujan Chandra Paul & Md. Harun Or Rosid & Md. Jamil Sharif & Anjuman Ara Rajonee, 2021. "Foreign Direct Investment and CO2, CH4, N2O, Greenhouse Gas Emissions: A Cross Country Study," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 11(4), pages 97-104.
    10. Ghahroudi Mehdi Rasouli & Chong Li Choy, 2020. "The Macroeconomic Determinants and the Impact of Sanctions on FDI in Iran," Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 34(1), pages 15-34, February.
    11. Demena, Binyam Afewerk & Afesorgbor, Sylvanus Kwaku, 2020. "The effect of FDI on environmental emissions: Evidence from a meta-analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    12. Iorember, Paul Terhemba & Usman, Ojonugwa & Jelilov, Gylych, 2019. "Asymmetric Effects of Renewable Energy Consumption, Trade Openness and Economic Growth on Environmental Quality in Nigeria and South Africa," MPRA Paper 96333, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2019.
    13. Ahmad, Waheed & Ozturk, Ilhan & Majeed, Muhammad Tariq, 2022. "How do remittances affect environmental sustainability in Pakistan? Evidence from NARDL approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    14. Richard Gardiner & Petr Hajek, 2020. "Interactions among energy consumption, CO2, and economic development in European Union countries," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(4), pages 723-740, July.
    15. Ke Liu & Xinyue Xie & Qian Zhou, 2021. "Research on the Influencing Factors of Urban Ecological Carrying Capacity Based on a Multiscale Geographic Weighted Regression Model: Evidence from China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-25, November.
    16. Satria Tirtayasa & A. Akrim & Ade Gunawan & Emilda Sulasmi & Hastin Umi Anisah, 2021. "Significance of Economic Activities in Environmental Protection: Evidence from a Panel of 4-ASEAN Economies," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 11(2), pages 420-426.
    17. Nartraphee Tancho & Thanaporn Sriyakul & Changjiang Tang, 2020. "Asymmetric Impacts of Macroeconomy on Environment Degradation in Thailand: A NARDL Approach," Contemporary Economics, University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw., vol. 14(4), December.
    18. Abdul Hayy Haziq Mohamad & Muhamad Rias K. V. Zainuddin & Rossazana Ab-Rahim, 2023. "Does Renewable Energy Transition in the USA and China Overcome Environmental Degradation?," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 13(6), pages 234-243, November.
    19. Beata Ślusarczyk & Katarzyna Grondys, 2018. "The Concept of Sustainable Development in the Functioning of Municipalities Belonging to Special Economic Zones in Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-20, June.
    20. Pasquale Pazienza & Caterina Lucia, 2020. "How does FDI in the “agricultural and fishing” sector affect methane emission? Evidence from the OECD countries," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 37(2), pages 441-462, July.
    21. 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.
    22. Uddin, Mirza Md Moyen & Sharif, Taimur & Islam, Abe Reza Mohammad & Abedin, Mohammad Zoynul, 2024. "Moderating impact of FDI on the growth-environment nexus in the pre-COVID-19 eras," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(PA).
    23. Haoyuan Ding & Yi Li & Liang Wang & Chang Xue, 2022. "The Belt and Road Initiative, political involvement, and China's OFDI," International Studies of Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(4), pages 459-483, December.
    24. Fahd Alduais & Nashat Ali Almasria & Abeer Samara & Ali Masadeh, 2022. "Conciseness, Financial Disclosure, and Market Reaction: A Textual Analysis of Annual Reports in Listed Chinese Companies," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-22, November.
    25. Hang Jiang & Peiyi Kong & Yi-Chung Hu & Peng Jiang, 2021. "Forecasting China’s CO2 emissions by considering interaction of bilateral FDI using the improved grey multivariable Verhulst model," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 225-240, January.

    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. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. Imad Moosa, 2019. "The Environmental Effects of FDI: Evidence from MENA Countries," Working Papers 1321, Economic Research Forum, revised 21 Aug 2019.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. Cheng, Yuanyuan & Du, Kerui & Yao, Xin, 2024. "Restructuring and relocation of polluting industries under air pollution control: Evidence from industrial investment flows between Chinese cities," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    7. 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.
    8. 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.
    9. Ilker Akar, 2019. "The Pollution Haven Hypothesis and Foreign Trade - A Survey on the Relation with Environment," Economics Literature, WERI-World Economic Research Institute, vol. 1(1), pages 37-50, June.
    10. Shenglong Liu & Penglong Zhang, 2022. "Foreign Direct Investment and Air Pollution in China: Evidence from the Global Financial Crisis," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 60(1), pages 30-61, March.
    11. Solarin, Sakiru Adebola & Al-Mulali, Usama & Musah, Ibrahim & Ozturk, Ilhan, 2017. "Investigating the pollution haven hypothesis in Ghana: An empirical investigation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 706-719.
    12. Ren, Shenggang & Yuan, Baolong & Ma, Xie & Chen, Xiaohong, 2014. "International trade, FDI (foreign direct investment) and embodied CO2 emissions: A case study of Chinas industrial sectors," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 123-134.
    13. 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.
    14. Hao, Yu & Guo, Yunxia & Guo, Yitong & Wu, Haitao & Ren, Siyu, 2020. "Does outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) affect the home country’s environmental quality? The case of China," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 109-119.
    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. Fozia Latif Gill & K Kuperan Viswanathan & Mohd Zaini Abdul Karim, 2018. "The Critical Review of the Pollution Haven Hypothesis (PHH)," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 8(1), pages 167-174.
    17. Liu, Wei & Zhao, Zhihui & Wen, Zhao & Cheng, Shixiong, 2022. "Environmental regulation and OFDI: Evidence from Chinese listed firms," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 191-208.
    18. 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.
    19. 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.
    20. Okelele, Daniel Ochudi & Lokina, Razack & Ruhinduka, Remidius Denis, 2021. "Effect of Trade Openness on Ecological Footprint in Sub-Saharan Africa," African Journal of Economic Review, African Journal of Economic Review, vol. 10(1), December.

    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:gam:jecomi:v:5:y:2017:i:1:p:8-:d:92253. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.