Multinational corporations and the EU Emissions Trading System: The specter of asset erosion and creeping deindustrialization

Nils aus dem Moore, Philipp Großkurth and Michael Themann

Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 2019, vol. 94, issue C, 1-26

Abstract: This study seeks to investigate the causal effect of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) on firms' holdings of fixed assets as an early indicator of industrial relocation, exploiting installation level inclusion criteria of the regulation. To single out companies with particularly low relocation costs, global multinational enterprises (MNEs), we identify ownership structures for the full sample of EU ETS-firms. Matched Difference-in-Differences estimates provide robust evidence that contradicts the specter of an erosion of European asset bases. Baseline results for the manufacturing sector indicate that the EU ETS led to an on average increase of treated firms' asset bases of 12,1%. However, for a particular subgroup of MNEs, this increase is a mere 2.1%. For these companies, the EU ETS may have induced a shift in investment priorities.

Keywords: EU ETS; Cap-and-trade; Carbon leakage; Multinational corporation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C21 F23 H23 Q54 Q58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (35)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:94:y:2019:i:c:p:1-26

DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2018.11.003

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