IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/enreec/v60y2015i4p549-578.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Testing the Pollution Haven Effect: Does the Type of FDI Matter?

Author

Listed:
  • Jitao Tang

Abstract

Many studies have tested the pollution haven effect (PHE) which predicts that the tightening of local environmental regulations would shift foreign direct investment (FDI) to less regulated jurisdictions. However, most of them ignored the heterogeneity of FDI. This paper studies the PHE on local-market-oriented and export-oriented FDI and tests whether the two types have different responsiveness to environmental regulations in a host country. A simple model is developed to describe how different types of multinational companies respond in distinct ways to stricter environmental policies in host countries. Using US outward FDI data for 50 host countries and a survey measure of both the stringency and the enforcement of local environmental regulations, I find a significant deterrent effect of local environmental regulations on inward FDI. Furthermore, FDI in a host country is not only affected by local environmental regulations but also by environmental regulations in proximate countries. More importantly, accounting for the relative stringency of environmental regulations between a host country and the United States is critical for identifying a PHE. I find a significantly stronger effect of environmental policies on both types of FDI in host countries with environmental regulations that are stricter than those in the United States. In these countries, export-oriented FDI also exhibits a greater sensitivity to local environmental regulations than local market-oriented FDI. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Jitao Tang, 2015. "Testing the Pollution Haven Effect: Does the Type of FDI Matter?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 60(4), pages 549-578, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:enreec:v:60:y:2015:i:4:p:549-578
    DOI: 10.1007/s10640-014-9779-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10640-014-9779-7
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10640-014-9779-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Balasubramanyam, V N & Salisu, M & Sapsford, David, 1996. "Foreign Direct Investment and Growth in EP and IS Countries," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 106(434), pages 92-105, January.
    2. James R. Markusen, 2004. "Multinational Firms and the Theory of International Trade," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262633078, April.
    3. Karolina Ekholm & Rikard Forslid & James R. Markusen, 2021. "Export-Platform Foreign Direct Investment," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: BROADENING TRADE THEORY Incorporating Market Realities into Traditional Models, chapter 6, pages 111-130, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    4. Borensztein, E. & De Gregorio, J. & Lee, J-W., 1998. "How does foreign direct investment affect economic growth?1," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 115-135, June.
    5. James R. MARKUSEN, 2021. "Multinationals, Multi-Plant Economies, And The Gains From Trade," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: BROADENING TRADE THEORY Incorporating Market Realities into Traditional Models, chapter 1, pages 3-24, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    6. 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.
    7. 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..
    8. Taylor M. Scott, 2005. "Unbundling the Pollution Haven Hypothesis," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 4(2), pages 1-28, June.
    9. Baltagi, Badi H. & Egger, Peter & Pfaffermayr, Michael, 2007. "Estimating models of complex FDI: Are there third-country effects?," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 140(1), pages 260-281, September.
    10. Bouwe R. Dijkstra & Anuj Joshua Mathew & Arijit Mukherjee, 2011. "Environmental Regulation: An Incentive for Foreign Direct Investment," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(3), pages 568-578, August.
    11. repec:clg:wpaper:2008-02 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Josh Ederington & Jenny Minier, 2003. "Is environmental policy a secondary trade barrier? An empirical analysis," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 36(1), pages 137-154, March.
    13. 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.
    14. David L. Carr & James R. Markusen & Keith E. Maskus, 2021. "Estimating The Knowledge-Capital Model of the Multinational Enterprise," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: BROADENING TRADE THEORY Incorporating Market Realities into Traditional Models, chapter 5, pages 95-110, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    15. Brian R. Copeland & M. Scott Taylor, 1994. "North-South Trade and the Environment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 109(3), pages 755-787.
    16. Tim Jeppesen & John A. List & Henk Folmer, 2002. "Environmental Regulations and New Plant Location Decisions: Evidence from a Meta‐Analysis," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(1), pages 19-49, February.
    17. Javorcik Beata Smarzynska & Wei Shang-Jin, 2003. "Pollution Havens and Foreign Direct Investment: Dirty Secret or Popular Myth?," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 3(2), pages 1-34, December.
    18. James R. Markusen & Anthony J. Venables, 2021. "Multinational firms and the new trade theory," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: BROADENING TRADE THEORY Incorporating Market Realities into Traditional Models, chapter 3, pages 47-67, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    19. Pethig, Rudiger, 1976. "Pollution, welfare, and environmental policy in the theory of Comparative Advantage," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 2(3), pages 160-169, February.
    20. 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.
    21. Helpman, Elhanan, 1984. "A Simple Theory of International Trade with Multinational Corporations," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 92(3), pages 451-471, June.
    22. 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.
    23. Ederington Josh & Levinson Arik & Minier Jenny, 2004. "Trade Liberalization and Pollution Havens," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 4(2), pages 1-24, November.
    24. Bruce A. Blonigen & Ronald B. Davies & Glen R. Waddell & Helen T. Naughton, 2019. "FDI in Space: Spatial Autoregressive Relationships in Foreign Direct Investment," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Foreign Direct Investment, chapter 2, pages 55-88, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    25. Arik Levinson & M. Scott Taylor, 2008. "Unmasking The Pollution Haven Effect," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 49(1), pages 223-254, February.
    26. 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.
    27. McGuire, Martin C., 1982. "Regulation, factor rewards, and international trade," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 335-354, April.
    28. Ulrich Wagner & Christopher Timmins, 2009. "Agglomeration Effects in Foreign Direct Investment and the Pollution Haven Hypothesis," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 43(2), pages 231-256, June.
    29. Michael Greenstone, 2002. "The Impacts of Environmental Regulations on Industrial Activity: Evidence from the 1970 and 1977 Clean Air Act Amendments and the Census of Manufactures," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 110(6), pages 1175-1219, December.
    30. Li, Xiaoying & Liu, Xiaming, 2005. "Foreign Direct Investment and Economic Growth: An Increasingly Endogenous Relationship," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 393-407, March.
    31. James R. Markusen, 1998. "Multinational Firms, Location and Trade," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(6), pages 733-756, August.
    32. Levinson, Arik, 1996. "Environmental regulations and manufacturers' location choices: Evidence from the Census of Manufactures," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(1-2), pages 5-29, October.
    33. 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.
    34. Cees Van Beers & Jeroen C. J. M. Van Den Bergh, 1997. "An Empirical Multi‐Country Analysis of the Impact of Environmental Regulations on Foreign Trade Flows," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1), pages 29-46, February.
    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. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. Sunghoon Chung, 2012. "Environmental Regulation and the Pattern of Outward FDI: An Empirical Assessment of the Pollution Haven Hypothesis," Departmental Working Papers 1203, Southern Methodist University, Department of Economics.
    5. 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.
    6. Chung, Sunghoon, 2014. "Environmental regulation and foreign direct investment: Evidence from South Korea," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 222-236.
    7. 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.
    8. Antoine Dechezleprêtre & Misato Sato, 2017. "The Impacts of Environmental Regulations on Competitiveness," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 11(2), pages 183-206.
    9. Rezza, Alief A., 2013. "FDI and pollution havens: Evidence from the Norwegian manufacturing sector," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 140-149.
    10. Zhonghua Cheng & Lianshui Li & Jun Liu, 2018. "The spatial correlation and interaction between environmental regulation and foreign direct investment," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 54(2), pages 124-146, October.
    11. Millimet, Daniel L., 2013. "Environmental Federalism: A Survey of the Empirical Literature," IZA Discussion Papers 7831, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Millimet, Daniel L. & Roy, Jayjit, 2011. "Three New Empirical Tests of the Pollution Haven Hypothesis When Environmental Regulation is Endogenous," IZA Discussion Papers 5911, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Choi, Gunae, 2022. "Determinants of target location selection for acquirers in the manufacturing sector: Pollution intensity, policy enforcement, and civic environmentalism," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 308-324.
    14. Xiao Chen & Alan Woodland, 2013. "International trade and climate change," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 20(3), pages 381-413, June.
    15. 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.
    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. 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.
    18. Baomin Dong & Jiong Gong & Xin Zhao, 2012. "FDI and environmental regulation: pollution haven or a race to the top?," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 216-237, April.
    19. Mingquan Li & Qi Wang, 2020. "Does industrial relocation alleviate environmental pollution? A mathematical economics analysis," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(5), pages 4673-4698, June.
    20. Fabrice Darrigues & Jean-Marc Montaud, 2011. "Trade liberalization, environmental regulation and self-regulation of multinational firms," Working Papers hal-01880351, HAL.

    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:kap:enreec:v:60:y:2015:i:4:p:549-578. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.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.