IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/ecsysr/v28y2016i2p168-182.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The role of outsourcing in driving global carbon emissions

Author

Listed:
  • Arunima Malik
  • Jun Lan

Abstract

Globalisation has narrowed the gap between producers and consumers of goods and services. The linkages between international trade and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions have started to be recognised, yet the extent of outsourcing of emissions across nations is unknown. Filling this gap in knowledge is critical for designing effective policy mechanisms for assigning responsibility for reductions in emissions. Here we present a structural decomposition analysis of global trends in outsourcing of emissions from 1990 to 2010 for 186 individual countries. To this end, we disaggregate total CO 2 emissions for each country into contributions from the domestic economy and international trade. This allows us to unveil outsourcing trends for all nations confirming a world-wide shifting of emissions-intensive production across borders. We categorise nations into “outsourcers” -- countries that outsource carbon-intensive production to so-called contractor nations. Our detailed assessment of the commodity content of global outsourcing flows reveals interesting insights about the trade of carbon-intensive commodities.

Suggested Citation

  • Arunima Malik & Jun Lan, 2016. "The role of outsourcing in driving global carbon emissions," Economic Systems Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(2), pages 168-182, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:ecsysr:v:28:y:2016:i:2:p:168-182
    DOI: 10.1080/09535314.2016.1172475
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/09535314.2016.1172475
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/09535314.2016.1172475?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. Michael Jakob & Jan Christoph Steckel & Ottmar Edenhofer, 2014. "Consumption- Versus Production-Based Emission Policies," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 6(1), pages 297-318, October.
    2. Ekins, Paul, 2004. "Step changes for decarbonising the energy system: research needs for renewables, energy efficiency and nuclear power," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(17), pages 1891-1904, November.
    3. Erik Dietzenbacher & Bart Los, 1998. "Structural Decomposition Techniques: Sense and Sensitivity," Economic Systems Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(4), pages 307-324.
    4. Fremdling, Rainer & De Jong, Herman & Timmer, Marcel P., 2007. "British and German Manufacturing Productivity Compared: A New Benchmark for 1935/36 Based on Double Deflated Value Added," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 67(2), pages 350-378, June.
    5. Weber, Christopher L., 2009. "Measuring structural change and energy use: Decomposition of the US economy from 1997 to 2002," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 1561-1570, April.
    6. Bin Su & B. W. Ang, 2012. "Structural Decomposition Analysis Applied To Energy And Emissions: Aggregation Issues," Economic Systems Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(3), pages 299-317, March.
    7. Lan, Jun & Malik, Arunima & Lenzen, Manfred & McBain, Darian & Kanemoto, Keiichiro, 2016. "A structural decomposition analysis of global energy footprints," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 436-451.
    8. Mark De Haan, 2001. "A Structural Decomposition Analysis of Pollution in the Netherlands," Economic Systems Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(2), pages 181-196.
    9. Axel Dreher, 2006. "Does globalization affect growth? Evidence from a new index of globalization," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(10), pages 1091-1110.
    10. Munksgaard, Jesper & Pedersen, Klaus Alsted, 2001. "CO2 accounts for open economies: producer or consumer responsibility?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 327-334, March.
    11. Changjian Wang & Fei Wang, 2015. "Structural Decomposition Analysis of Carbon Emissions and Policy Recommendations for Energy Sustainability in Xinjiang," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(6), pages 1-20, June.
    12. Deyi Hou & Jian Luo & Abir Al-Tabbaa, 2012. "Shale gas can be a double-edged sword for climate change," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 2(6), pages 385-387, June.
    13. Su, Bin & Ang, B.W., 2012. "Structural decomposition analysis applied to energy and emissions: Some methodological developments," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 177-188.
    14. Peters, Glen P., 2008. "From production-based to consumption-based national emission inventories," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 13-23, March.
    15. Wiedmann, Thomas, 2009. "A review of recent multi-region input-output models used for consumption-based emission and resource accounting," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 211-222, December.
    16. Bastianoni, Simone & Pulselli, Federico Maria & Tiezzi, Enzo, 2004. "The problem of assigning responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 253-257, July.
    17. John Barrett & Glen Peters & Thomas Wiedmann & Kate Scott & Manfred Lenzen & Katy Roelich & Corinne Le Qu�r�, 2013. "Consumption-based GHG emission accounting: a UK case study," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(4), pages 451-470, July.
    18. Wier, Mette & Hasler, Berit, 1999. "Accounting for nitrogen in Denmark--a structural decomposition analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 317-331, August.
    19. Lenzen, Manfred, 2006. "Decomposition analysis and the mean-rate-of-change index," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 83(3), pages 185-198, March.
    20. Wood, Richard & Lenzen, Manfred, 2006. "Zero-value problems of the logarithmic mean divisia index decomposition method," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(12), pages 1326-1331, August.
    21. Leontief, Wassily, 1970. "Environmental Repercussions and the Economic Structure: An Input-Output Approach," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 52(3), pages 262-271, August.
    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. Nagashima, Fumiya, 2018. "The sign reversal problem in structural decomposition analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 307-312.
    2. Meng, Jing & Zhang, Zengkai & Mi, Zhifu & Anadon, Laura Diaz & Zheng, Heran & Zhang, Bo & Shan, Yuli & Guan, Dabo, 2018. "The role of intermediate trade in the change of carbon flows within China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 303-312.
    3. Wu, Sanmang & Li, Shantong & Lei, Yalin & Li, Li, 2020. "Temporal changes in China's production and consumption-based CO2 emissions and the factors contributing to changes," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    4. Xu, Xueliu & Wang, Qian & Ran, Chenyang & Mu, Mingjie, 2021. "Is burden responsibility more effective? A value-added method for tracing worldwide carbon emissions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    5. Kim, Yong-Gun & Yoo, Jonghyun & Oh, Wankeun, 2015. "Driving forces of rapid CO2 emissions growth: A case of Korea," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 144-155.
    6. Lan, Jun & Malik, Arunima & Lenzen, Manfred & McBain, Darian & Kanemoto, Keiichiro, 2016. "A structural decomposition analysis of global energy footprints," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 436-451.
    7. Ninpanit, Panittra & Malik, Arunima & Wakiyama, Takako & Geschke, Arne & Lenzen, Manfred, 2019. "Thailand’s energy-related carbon dioxide emissions from production-based and consumption-based perspectives," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    8. Su, Bin & Ang, B.W., 2014. "Attribution of changes in the generalized Fisher index with application to embodied emission studies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 778-786.
    9. Boya Zhang & Shukuan Bai & Yadong Ning & Tao Ding & Yan Zhang, 2020. "Emission Embodied in International Trade and Its Responsibility from the Perspective of Global Value Chain: Progress, Trends, and Challenges," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-26, April.
    10. Franco Solís, Alberto & F.T. Avelino, André & Carrascal-Incera, André, 2020. "The evolution of household-induced value chains and their environmental implications," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    11. Duarte, Rosa & Mainar, Alfredo & Sánchez-Chóliz, Julio, 2013. "The role of consumption patterns, demand and technological factors on the recent evolution of CO2 emissions in a group of advanced economies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 1-13.
    12. Misato Sato, 2014. "Embodied Carbon In Trade: A Survey Of The Empirical Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 831-861, December.
    13. Yan, Junna & Su, Bin, 2020. "What drive the changes in China's energy consumption and intensity during 12th Five-Year Plan period?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    14. Pothen, Frank, 2017. "A structural decomposition of global Raw Material Consumption," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 154-165.
    15. Dietzenbacher, Erik & Kulionis, Viktoras & Capurro, Filippo, 2020. "Measuring the effects of energy transition: A structural decomposition analysis of the change in renewable energy use between 2000 and 2014," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    16. Jiang, Xuemei & Guan, Dabo, 2017. "The global CO2 emissions growth after international crisis and the role of international trade," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 734-746.
    17. Su, Bin & Ang, B.W. & Low, Melissa, 2013. "Input–output analysis of CO2 emissions embodied in trade and the driving forces: Processing and normal exports," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 119-125.
    18. Kaltenegger, Oliver & Löschel, Andreas & Pothen, Frank, 2017. "The effect of globalisation on energy footprints: Disentangling the links of global value chains," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(S1), pages 148-168.
    19. Su, Bin & Ang, B.W., 2014. "Input–output analysis of CO2 emissions embodied in trade: A multi-region model for China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 377-384.
    20. Banie Naser Outchiri, 2020. "Contributing to better energy and environmental analyses: how accurate are decomposition analysis results?," Cahiers de recherche 20-11, Departement d'économique de l'École de gestion à l'Université de Sherbrooke.

    More about this item

    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:taf:ecsysr:v:28:y:2016:i:2:p:168-182. 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/CESR20 .

    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.