IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/tcpoxx/v17y2017i4p443-457.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Identifying the industrial sectors at risk of carbon leakage in China

Author

Listed:
  • Xin Wang
  • Fei Teng
  • Shaojie Zhou
  • Bofeng Cai

Abstract

China is gradually establishing an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to implement its plan to peak energy-related carbon emissions by 2030. A central debate on ETS design involves addressing the carbon leakage concern. In this study, a detailed quantitative assessment is conducted to identify the industrial sectors at risk of carbon leakage in China. The identification process is undertaken at the four-digit sector level according to the National Economic Industries Classification. Results show that the majority of emissions quotas must be allocated to several energy-intensive sectors. The criterion that focuses on maximum value at stake filters out 27 four-digit sectors, whereas the dual criterion of carbon and trade intensity highlights 17 four-digit sectors that are considered at actual risk of carbon leakage. Quantitative analysis results indicate that allocating 9% of emission quotas for free is sufficient to compensate these vulnerable sectors. The risk of exposure to carbon leakage can vary significantly due to the different levels of data disaggregation, as per the findings from the comparison of carbon intensity data obtained from four-digit sectors belonging to one two-digit sector in the Standard Industry Classification. Therefore, the importance of using high-quality disaggregated data is highlighted in this research. Official criteria for assessing the key indicators of industrial sectors must be designed to accurately evaluate the sectors at risk of carbon leakage.Policy relevanceChina is gradually establishing a nationwide Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). The design of this scheme could significantly influence the economic profits and trade situation of industrial sectors. A central debate on the design of China's ETS involves how to address carbon leakage concerns; this question remains unanswered thus far. The evaluation of the extent to which the competitiveness of industrial sectors is affected by the ETS and the identification of sectors at risk of carbon leakage are certainly of practical significance to the design of an applicable range and an appropriate free quota allocation regime for China's ETS.

Suggested Citation

  • Xin Wang & Fei Teng & Shaojie Zhou & Bofeng Cai, 2017. "Identifying the industrial sectors at risk of carbon leakage in China," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(4), pages 443-457, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:tcpoxx:v:17:y:2017:i:4:p:443-457
    DOI: 10.1080/14693062.2015.1104497
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/14693062.2015.1104497
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/14693062.2015.1104497?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.

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Yu, Pei & Cai, Zhengfang & Sun, Yongping, 2021. "Does the emissions trading system in developing countries accelerate carbon leakage through OFDI? Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    2. Erik Hille & Patrick Möbius, 2019. "Environmental Policy, Innovation, and Productivity Growth: Controlling the Effects of Regulation and Endogeneity," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 73(4), pages 1315-1355, August.
    3. Fournier Gabela, Julio G. & Freund, Florian, 2022. "Potential carbon leakage risk: A cross-sector cross-country assessment in the OECD area," Conference papers 333468, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    4. Sun, YongPing & Xue, JinJun & Shi, XunPeng & Wang, KeYing & Qi, ShaoZhou & Wang, Lei & Wang, Cheng, 2019. "A dynamic and continuous allowances allocation methodology for the prevention of carbon leakage: Emission control coefficients," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 236(C), pages 220-230.
    5. Chunyu Pan & Anil Kumar Shrestha & Guangyu Wang & John L. Innes & Kevin Xinwei Wang & Nuyun Li & Jinliang Li & Yeyun He & Chunguang Sheng & John-O. Niles, 2021. "A Linkage Framework for the China National Emission Trading System (CETS): Insight from Key Global Carbon Markets," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-15, July.
    6. Zhao, Na & Wang, Keqing & Yuan, Yongna, 2023. "Toward the carbon neutrality: Forest carbon sinks and its spatial spillover effect in China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    7. Yan Xiao & Yan Zhang & Jiekuan Zhang, 2023. "The Impact of Carbon Emission Trading on Industrial Green Total Factor Productivity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-18, April.

    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:tcpoxx:v:17:y:2017:i:4:p:443-457. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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/tcpo20 .

    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.