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Pollution Havens and the Trade in Toxic Chemicals: Evidence from U.S. Trade Flows

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  • John P. Tang

Abstract

Does increased environmental protection decrease the emission of pollutants or merely displace them? Using newly available trade data, this study examines the flows of a panel of chemicals designated as toxic by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency�s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). Estimates from a differences-in-differences model indicate a significant increase in net imports when a chemical is listed on TRI, which suggests production offshoring. Furthermore, I find that increased imports due to this �pollution haven effect� are sourced disproportionately from poorer countries, which are likely to have lower environmental protection standards. At the same time, I observe the bulk of American trade in toxic chemicals occurs with other wealthy countries, which may be attributed to the capital intensity of chemical production.

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  • John P. Tang, 2010. "Pollution Havens and the Trade in Toxic Chemicals: Evidence from U.S. Trade Flows," Working Papers 10-12, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    • Handle: RePEc:cen:wpaper:10-12
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    2. Ertugrul, Hasan Murat & Çetin, Murat & Şeker, Fahri & Dogan, Eyüp, 2015. "The impact of trade openness on global carbon dioxide emissions: Evidence from the top ten emitters among developing countries," MPRA Paper 97539, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 10 Mar 2016.
    3. Markusen, James R., 2012. "Per-Capita Income as a Determinant of International Trade and Environmental Policies," Discussion Papers 2013-06, Graduate School of Economics, Hitotsubashi University.
    4. Michael Schymura & Andreas Löschel, 2012. "Trade and the Environment: An Application of the WIOD Database," EcoMod2012 3948, EcoMod.
    5. James R. Markusen, 2014. "Per-Capital Income as a Determinant of International Trade and Environment Policies," CESifo Working Paper Series 4618, CESifo.
    6. Yingbin Zhang & Xiang Cai & Youjin Liu & Zhengli Xu & Junmei Gao & Sohail Ahmad Javeed, 2023. "What leads to pollution burden shifting among the Belt and Road countries? Evidence from 61 B&R countries," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(6), pages 4831-4862, June.
    7. Zhang, Zengkai & Zhu, Kunfu & Hewings, Geoffrey J.D., 2017. "A multi-regional input–output analysis of the pollution haven hypothesis from the perspective of global production fragmentation," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 13-23.
    8. Saeed Mohamad Taghvaee & Behrouz Omaraee & Vahid Mohamad Taghvaee, 2017. "Maritime Transportation, Environmental Pollution, and Economic Growth in Iran: Using Dynamic Log Linear Model and Granger Causality Approach," Iranian Economic Review (IER), Faculty of Economics,University of Tehran.Tehran,Iran, vol. 21(2), pages 185-210, Spring.
    9. 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.

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