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Is There a Pollution Haven Effect? Evidence from a Natural Experiment in China

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  • Lu, Yi
  • Wu, Mingqin
  • Yu, Linhui

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate whether there is a pollution haven effect, specifically, the effect of environmental regulations on firm location. Our identification uses the Two Control Zones (TCZ) policy implemented by the Chinese government in 1998. The difference-in-differences (DID) estimation shows that cities with tougher environmental regulations attract less foreign direct investment (FDI). Specifically, being listed as a TCZ city causes the amount of FDI to drop by 41%. Our results are robust to various robustness checks on the validity of the DID estimation and other estimation concerns.

Suggested Citation

  • Lu, Yi & Wu, Mingqin & Yu, Linhui, 2012. "Is There a Pollution Haven Effect? Evidence from a Natural Experiment in China," MPRA Paper 38787, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:38787
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    4. Judith M. Dean & Mary E. Lovely & Hua Wang, 2017. "Are foreign investors attracted to weak environmental regulations? Evaluating the evidence from China," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Mary E Lovely (ed.), International Economic Integration and Domestic Performance, chapter 9, pages 155-167, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    5. Eskeland, Gunnar S. & Harrison, Ann E., 2003. "Moving to greener pastures? Multinationals and the pollution haven hypothesis," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 1-23, February.
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    7. Wolfgang Keller & Arik Levinson, 2002. "Pollution Abatement Costs and Foreign Direct Investment Inflows to U.S. States," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(4), pages 691-703, November.
    8. Marianne Bertrand & Esther Duflo & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "How Much Should We Trust Differences-In-Differences Estimates?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(1), pages 249-275.
    9. Henderson, J Vernon, 1996. "Effects of Air Quality Regulation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(4), pages 789-813, September.
    10. Laura Hering & Sandra Poncet, 2011. "Environmental policy and trade performance: Evidence from China," Working Papers 2011-30, CEPII research center.
    11. Daniel L. Millimet & Jayjit Roy, 2011. "Three New Empirical Tests of the Pollution Haven Hypothesis When Environmental Regulation is Endogenous," Working Papers 11-10, Department of Economics, Appalachian State University.
    12. Kellenberg, Derek K., 2009. "An empirical investigation of the pollution haven effect with strategic environment and trade policy," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(2), pages 242-255, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Chen, Qiu & Maung, Min & Shi, Yulin & Wilson, Craig, 2014. "Foreign direct investment concessions and environmental levies in China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 241-250.
    2. Xie, Rui & Zhang, Jiahuan & Tang, Chuan, 2023. "Political connection and water pollution: New evidence from Chinese listed firms," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    3. Pinyi Su & Muhammad Imran & Muhammad Nadeem & Shamsheer ul Haq, 2023. "The Role of Environmental Law in Farmers’ Environment-Protecting Intentions and Behavior Based on Their Legal Cognition: A Case Study of Jiangxi Province, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-22, May.
    4. Cavalletti, Barbara & Borino, Floriana, 2015. "The Challenge of Analysing the Impact of Environmental Policy on Competitiveness - L’analisi dell’impatto della politica ambientale sulla competitività: una sfida ancora aperta," Economia Internazionale / International Economics, Camera di Commercio Industria Artigianato Agricoltura di Genova, vol. 68(2), pages 153-171.
    5. Qian Wang & Zhuoya Du & Boyu Wang & Yung‐ho Chiu & Tzu‐Han Chang, 2022. "Environmental regulation and foreign direct investment attractiveness: Evidence from China provinces," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 899-917, May.
    6. Hering, Laura & Poncet, Sandra, 2014. "Environmental policy and exports: Evidence from Chinese cities," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 296-318.
    7. Liu, Yongzheng & Zhang, Xiaoge, 2023. "Environmental regulation, political incentives, and mortality in China," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    8. Yusen Gao & Changsheng Hu & Yue Yang, 2022. "Will tougher environmental policy reduce the employment of industrial enterprises? The heterogeneity analysis based on enterprise level and city level," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(6), pages 1810-1834, September.
    9. Boen Zhu & Yujie Zhou, 2024. "Environmental Regulations and Urban Technological Innovation: China’s Two Control Zones Policy as Evidence," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-14, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Pollution haven effect; Difference-in-differences estimation; Two control zones; Natural experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes

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