IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cie/wpaper/1101.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Import Competition and Environmental Performance: Evidence from Mexican Plant-level and Satellite Imagery Data

Author

Listed:
  • Emilio Gutierrez

    (Centro de Investigacion Economica (CIE), Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico (ITAM))

  • Kensuke Teshima

    (Centro de Investigacion Economica (CIE), Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico (ITAM))

Abstract

We investigate the impact of international trade, in particular import competition, on the environment. We tackle this question from a new perspective, i.e., whether trade liberalization affects production plants' environmental performance by changing incentives of firms to undertake two types of investment: investment in the environment and in efficient energy use, and investment in technology in general. Identifying such effects empirically has been challenging. Not only is it unusual to obtain direct information on plants' environmental performance as well as plants' effort towards environmental protection; it is also difficult to find an exogenous source of variation in tariffs on goods produced by plants. We overcome these difficulties by constructing a unique combination of Mexican plant-level data and satellite imagery data, thus providing evidence of the effects of import competition on three direct measures: energy efficiency in terms of electricity use; investment at the plant level in efficient energy and the environment; and measures of pollution around plants' geographic location. We use tariff changes due to free trade agreements as shocks to import competition, which are arguably less endogenous than unilateral tariff reduction and have been shown to have no systematic correlation with initial plant-level characteristics. The key finding is that the reduction of tariffs on goods produced by Mexican plants induced them to increase efficiency in energy use, thus allowing them to reduce pollution and in turn also reduce direct investment in efficient energy and environmental protection. The results suggest that even when detailed data on environmental effort at the plant level are available, caution should be taken when trying to measure the effects of openness to trade on environmental performance, as trade is also likely to change the firms' incentive to invest in technology in general, which may indirectly be more environmentally friendly.

Suggested Citation

  • Emilio Gutierrez & Kensuke Teshima, 2011. "Import Competition and Environmental Performance: Evidence from Mexican Plant-level and Satellite Imagery Data," Working Papers 1101, Centro de Investigacion Economica, ITAM.
    • Handle: RePEc:cie:wpaper:1101
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://ftp.itam.mx/pub/academico/inves/teshima/11-01.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carsten Kowalczyk & Donald R. Davis, 1998. "Tariff Phase-Outs: Theory and Evidence from GATT and NAFTA," NBER Chapters, in: The Regionalization of the World Economy, pages 227-258, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Marianne Bertrand & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2003. "Enjoying the Quiet Life? Corporate Governance and Managerial Preferences," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 111(5), pages 1043-1075, October.
    3. 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.
    4. Lucas, Robert E.B. & Wheeler, David & Hettige, Hemamala, 1992. "Economic development, environmental regulation, and the international migration of toxic industrial pollution : 1960-88," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1062, The World Bank.
    5. Klaus M. Schmidt, 1997. "Managerial Incentives and Product Market Competition," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 64(2), pages 191-213.
    6. Thomas J. Holmes & David K. Levine & James A. Schmitz, 2012. "Monopoly and the Incentive to Innovate When Adoption Involves Switchover Disruptions," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(3), pages 1-33, August.
    7. 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.
    8. Marc J. Melitz, 2003. "The Impact of Trade on Intra-Industry Reallocations and Aggregate Industry Productivity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 71(6), pages 1695-1725, November.
    9. Nickell, Stephen J, 1996. "Competition and Corporate Performance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(4), pages 724-746, August.
    10. 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.
    11. Philippe Aghion & Christopher Harris & Peter Howitt & John Vickers, 2001. "Competition, Imitation and Growth with Step-by-Step Innovation," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 68(3), pages 467-492.
    12. Jeffrey A. Frankel & Andrew K. Rose, 2005. "Is Trade Good or Bad for the Environment? Sorting Out the Causality," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(1), pages 85-91, February.
    13. Low, P., 1992. "International Trade and the Environment," World Bank - Discussion Papers 159, World Bank.
    14. Lucas W. Davis & Matthew E. Kahn, 2008. "International Trade in Used Durable Goods: The Environmental Consequences of NAFTA," NBER Working Papers 14565, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. James A. Tobey, 1990. "The Effects of Domestic Environmental Policies on Patterns of World Trade: An Empirical Test," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(2), pages 191-209, May.
    16. Richard Blundell & Rachel Griffith & John van Reenen, 1999. "Market Share, Market Value and Innovation in a Panel of British Manufacturing Firms," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 66(3), pages 529-554.
    17. Aghion, Philippe & Harris, Christopher & Vickers, John, 1997. "Competition and growth with step-by-step innovation: An example," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(3-5), pages 771-782, April.
    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. J. Scott Holladay, 2016. "Exporters and the environment," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 49(1), pages 147-172, February.
    2. Di Ubaldo, Mattia, 2016. "Firms and trade in downturns," Economics PhD Theses 0416, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    3. Geoffrey Barrows & Helene Ollivier, 2016. "Emission intensity and firm dynamics: reallocation, product mix, and technology in India," GRI Working Papers 245, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
    4. Cherniwchan, Jevan, 2017. "Trade liberalization and the environment: Evidence from NAFTA and U.S. manufacturing," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 130-149.
    5. Montufar Helu Jiménez, Alejandro, 2013. "Reformas en la producción y distribución eléctrica y su relación con el sector manufacturero: el impacto de la sustitución de Luz y Fuerza del Centro por la Comisión Federal de Electricidad," MPRA Paper 49507, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Emilio Gutierrez, 2015. "Air quality and infant mortality in Mexico: evidence from variation in pollution concentrations caused by the usage of small-scale power plants," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 28(4), pages 1181-1207, October.

    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. Moinul Islam & Keiichiro Kanemoto & Shunsuke Managi, 2016. "Impact of Trade Openness and Sector Trade on Embodied Greenhouse Gases Emissions and Air Pollutants," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 20(3), pages 494-505, June.
    2. Schiantarelli, Fabio, 2005. "Product Market Regulation and Macroeconomic Performance: A Review of Cross Country Evidence," IZA Discussion Papers 1791, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Jie HE, 2005. "Economic Determinants for China’s Industrial SO2 Emission: Reduced vs. Structural form and the role of international trade," Working Papers 200505, CERDI.
    4. Philippe Aghion & Richard Blundell & Rachel Griffith & Peter Howitt & Susanne Prantl, 2009. "The Effects of Entry on Incumbent Innovation and Productivity," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 91(1), pages 20-32, February.
    5. Ramiro de Elejalde & Carlos Ponce & Flavia Roldán, 2018. "Innovation and competition: evidence from Uruguayan firms," Documentos de Investigación 116, Universidad ORT Uruguay. Facultad de Administración y Ciencias Sociales.
    6. Rachel Griffith & Rupert Harrison & Helen Simpson, 2010. "Product Market Reform and Innovation in the EU," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 112(2), pages 389-415, June.
    7. Suárez-Varela, Marta & Rodríguez-Crespo, Ernesto, 2022. "Is dirty trade concentrating in more polluting countries? Evidence from Africa," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 728-744.
    8. L??szl?? Halpern & G??bor K??r??si, 2003. "Corporate performance and market structure during transition in Hungary," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 2003-606, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    9. Philippe Aghion & Stefan Bechtold & Lea Cassar & Holger Herz, 2018. "The Causal Effects of Competition on Innovation: Experimental Evidence," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 34(2), pages 162-195.
    10. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Khraief, Naceur & Uddin, Gazi Salah & Ozturk, Ilhan, 2014. "Environmental Kuznets curve in an open economy: A bounds testing and causality analysis for Tunisia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 325-336.
    11. Davide Fantino, 2008. "R&D and market structure in a horizontal differentiation framework," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 658, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    12. Renaud Bourlès & Gilbert Cette & Jimmy Lopez & Jacques Mairesse & Giuseppe Nicoletti, 2013. "Do Product Market Regulations In Upstream Sectors Curb Productivity Growth? Panel Data Evidence For OECD Countries," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(5), pages 1750-1768, December.
    13. Cherniwchan, Jevan, 2017. "Trade liberalization and the environment: Evidence from NAFTA and U.S. manufacturing," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 130-149.
    14. Philippe Aghion & Nick Bloom & Richard Blundell & Rachel Griffith & Peter Howitt, 2005. "Competition and Innovation: an Inverted-U Relationship," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(2), pages 701-728.
    15. He, Jie, 2010. "What is the role of openness for China's aggregate industrial SO2 emission?: A structural analysis based on the Divisia decomposition method," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(4), pages 868-886, February.
    16. He, Ling-Yun & Huang, Geng, 2021. "How can export improve firms’ energy efficiency? The role of innovation investment," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 90-97.
    17. Sudeshna Ghosh, 2018. "Globalization and Environment: An Asian Experience," Journal of International Commerce, Economics and Policy (JICEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 9(03), pages 1-27, October.
    18. Ling, Chong Hui & Ahmed, Khalid & Muhamad, Rusnah binti & Shahbaz, Muhammad, 2015. "Decomposing the trade-environment nexus for Malaysia: What do the technique, scale, composition and comparative advantage effect indicate?," MPRA Paper 67165, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 09 Oct 2015.
    19. Shahbaz, Muhammad, 2019. "Globalization-Emissions Nexus: Testing the EKC hypothesis in Next-11 Countries," MPRA Paper 93959, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 13 May 2019.
    20. Cui, Jingbo & Lapan, Harvey E. & Moschini, GianCarlo, 2012. "Are exporters more environmentally friendly than non-exporters? Theory and evidence," ISU General Staff Papers 201210040700001076, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:cie:wpaper:1101. 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: Diego Dominguez (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ciitamx.html .

    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.