IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/wpaper/hal-03004353.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Do PTAs with environmental provisions reduce emissions? Assessing the effectiveness of climate-related provisions?

Author

Listed:
  • Zakaria Sorgho

    (ULaval - Université Laval [Québec], FERDI - Fondation pour les Etudes et Recherches sur le Développement International)

  • Tharakan Joe

    (HEC Liège, CORE - Center of Operation Research and Econometrics [Louvain] - UCL - Université Catholique de Louvain = Catholic University of Louvain)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to assess the effectiveness on climate change mitigation of the climate-related commitments contained in PTAs. Because of a lack of availability of detailed data on PTAs, the academic literature on the role of PTAs with environmental provisions (PTAwEP) in global climate governance remains limited. A novel and detailed database identifying nearly 300 different types of environmental provisions from more than 680 PTAs since 1947 allows us to establish per country and per year the number of PTAs by distinguishing PTAs with climate-related provisions (PTAwCP) and PTAs with provisions related to other environmental issues. Using panel data covering 165 countries over the period 1995 to 2012, controlling for endogeneity issues, our main result shows that PTAwCP statistically reduce the level of CO2, CH4 and N2O. This suggests that governments seem to comply with the climate-related commitments they made in the PTAs, what potentially helps tackling global warming. Moreover, findings show that to be effective in terms of mitigating climate change, a PTAwEP should contain climate-related commitments.

Suggested Citation

  • Zakaria Sorgho & Tharakan Joe, 2020. "Do PTAs with environmental provisions reduce emissions? Assessing the effectiveness of climate-related provisions?," Working Papers hal-03004353, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03004353
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-03004353
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hal.science/hal-03004353/document
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lovely, Mary & Popp, David, 2011. "Trade, technology, and the environment: Does access to technology promote environmental regulation?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 16-35, January.
    2. 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.
    3. Daniel L. Millimet & Jayjit Roy, 2016. "Empirical Tests of the Pollution Haven Hypothesis When Environmental Regulation is Endogenous," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(4), pages 652-677, June.
    4. John Whalley, 2011. "What Role for Trade in a Post‐2012 Global Climate Policy Regime," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(11), pages 1844-1862, November.
    5. David H. Romer & Jeffrey A. Frankel, 1999. "Does Trade Cause Growth?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(3), pages 379-399, June.
    6. Ferrara, Ida & Missios, Paul & Murat Yildiz, Halis, 2009. "Trading rules and the environment: Does equal treatment lead to a cleaner world?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 206-225, September.
    7. Baghdadi, Leila & Martinez-Zarzoso, Inmaculada & Zitouna, Habib, 2013. "Are RTA agreements with environmental provisions reducing emissions?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(2), pages 378-390.
    8. Barro, Robert J. & Lee, Jong Wha, 2013. "A new data set of educational attainment in the world, 1950–2010," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 184-198.
    9. Managi, Shunsuke & Hibiki, Akira & Tsurumi, Tetsuya, 2009. "Does trade openness improve environmental quality?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 58(3), pages 346-363, November.
    10. Jevan Cherniwchan & Brian R. Copeland & M. Scott Taylor, 2017. "Trade and the Environment: New Methods, Measurements, and Results," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 9(1), pages 59-85, September.
    11. 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.
    12. Arellano, Manuel & Bover, Olympia, 1995. "Another look at the instrumental variable estimation of error-components models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 29-51, July.
    13. Anderson, T. W. & Hsiao, Cheng, 1982. "Formulation and estimation of dynamic models using panel data," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 47-82, January.
    14. Mehdi Nemati & Wuyang Hu & Michael Reed, 2019. "Are free trade agreements good for the environment? A panel data analysis," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(1), pages 435-453, February.
    15. Harro van Asselt, 2017. "Climate change and trade policy interaction: Implications of regionalism," OECD Trade and Environment Working Papers 2017/3, OECD Publishing.
    16. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    17. Clive George & Shunta Yamaguchi, 2018. "Assessing Implementation of Environmental Provisions in Regional Trade Agreements," OECD Trade and Environment Working Papers 2018/01, OECD Publishing.
    18. Clara Brandi & Dominique Blümer & Jean-Frédéric Morin, 2019. "When Do International Treaties Matter for Domestic EnvironmentalLegislation?," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 19(4), pages 14-44, November.
    19. Li Zhou & Xi Tian & Zhengyi Zhou, 2017. "The effects of environmental provisions in RTAs on PM2.5 air pollution," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(27), pages 2630-2641, June.
    20. Cole, Matthew A. & Elliott, Robert J. R., 2003. "Determining the trade-environment composition effect: the role of capital, labor and environmental regulations," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 363-383, November.
    21. Sikina Jinnah & Abby Lindsay, 2016. "Diffusion Through Issue Linkage: Environmental Norms in US Trade Agreements," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 16(3), pages 41-61, August.
    22. 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.
    23. Claire Brunel & Arik Levinson, 2016. "Measuring the Stringency of Environmental Regulations," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 10(1), pages 47-67.
    24. Jean-Frédéric Morin & Andreas Dür & Lisa Lechner, 2018. "Mapping the Trade and Environment Nexus: Insights from a New Data Set," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 18(1), pages 122-139, February.
    25. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    26. Windmeijer, Frank, 2005. "A finite sample correction for the variance of linear efficient two-step GMM estimators," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 126(1), pages 25-51, May.
    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. Zakaria Sorgho & Joe Tharakan, 2022. "Do PTAs with Environmental Provisions Reduce GHG Emissions? Distinguishing the Role of Climate-Related Provisions," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 83(3), pages 709-732, November.
    2. Sorgho, Zakaria & Tharakan, Joe, 2022. "Do PTAs with environmental provisions reduce GHG emissions? Distinguishing the effectiveness of climate-related provisions," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2022012, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    3. Inmaculada Martínez-Zarzoso & Walid Oueslati, 2018. "Do deep and comprehensive regional trade agreements help in reducing air pollution?," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 18(6), pages 743-777, December.
    4. Mansor H. Ibrahim, 2018. "Trade–finance complementarity and carbon emission intensity: panel evidence from middle-income countries," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 38(4), pages 489-500, December.
    5. Hille, Erik & Shahbaz, Muhammad, 2019. "Sources of emission reductions: Market and policy-stringency effects," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 29-43.
    6. Natalia Zugravu-Soilita, 2019. "Trade in Environmental Goods and Air Pollution: A Mediation Analysis to Estimate Total, Direct and Indirect Effects," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 74(3), pages 1125-1162, November.
    7. William Bekoe & Talatu Jalloh, 2023. "Assessing the Economic Implications of Free Trade on Environmental Quality: Empirical Evidence from Africa," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 84(1), pages 19-36, January.
    8. Natalia Zugravu-Soilita, 2017. "Trade in Environmental Goods: Empirical Exploration of Direct and Indirect Effects on Pollution by Country’s Trade Status," Working Papers 2017.56, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    9. Erik Hille, 2018. "Pollution havens: international empirical evidence using a shadow price measure of climate policy stringency," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 54(3), pages 1137-1171, May.
    10. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Balsalobre, Daniel & Shahzad, Syed Jawad Hussain, 2018. "The Influencing Factors of CO2 Emissions and the Role of Biomass Energy Consumption: Statistical Experience from G-7 Countries," MPRA Paper 87456, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 14 Jun 2018.
    11. Löschel, Andreas & Pothen, Frank & Schymura, Michael, 2015. "Peeling the onion: Analyzing aggregate, national and sectoral energy intensity in the European Union," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(S1), pages 63-75.
    12. Mansor H. Ibrahim & Siong Hook Law, 2016. "Institutional Quality and CO 2 Emission–Trade Relations: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 84(2), pages 323-340, June.
    13. Martínez-Zarzoso, Inmaculada & Oueslati, Walid, 2016. "Are deep and comprehensive regional trade agreements helping to reduce air pollution?," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 292, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    14. Michael Schymura & Andreas Löschel, 2012. "Trade and the Environment: An Application of the WIOD Database," EcoMod2012 3948, EcoMod.
    15. Xing Yao & Rizwana Yasmeen & Yunong Li & Muhammad Hafeez & Ihtsham Ul Haq Padda, 2019. "Free Trade Agreements and Environment for Sustainable Development: A Gravity Model Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-17, January.
    16. Erik Hille & Bernhard Lambernd & Aviral K. Tiwari, 2021. "Any Signs of Green Growth? A Spatial Panel Analysis of Regional Air Pollution in South Korea," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 80(4), pages 719-760, December.
    17. Somlanare Romuald KINDA & Pascale COMBES MOTEL & Jean-Louis COMBES, 2014. "Do Environmental Policies Hurt Trade Performance?," Working Papers 201404, CERDI.
    18. Jiansuo Pei & Bodo Sturm & Anqi Yu, 2021. "Are exporters more environmentally friendly? A re‐appraisal that uses China’s micro‐data," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(5), pages 1402-1427, May.
    19. Natalia Zugravu-Soilita, 2018. "The impact of trade in environmental goods on pollution: what are we learning from the transition economies’ experience?," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 20(4), pages 785-827, October.
    20. Ridwan Lanre Ibrahim & Kazeem Bello Ajide, 2022. "Trade facilitation and environmental quality: empirical evidence from some selected African countries," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 1282-1312, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Preferential trade agreements; Climate-related provisions; Environmental policy; Greenhouse gases; Global warming; Climate change;
    All these keywords.

    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:hal:wpaper:hal-03004353. 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: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    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.