 Is trade the enemy of environment?: Congressional voting on environmental policies after the China shockRyuGyung Park International Interactions, 2025, vol. 51, issue 4, 598-638 Abstract: How does trade competition affect support for environmental protection? On the one hand, import shocks can dampen support for environmental protection, as international trade can lead to a race to the bottom or a regulatory chill. On the other hand, import competition can drive ‘dirty’ industries and firms out of business, reducing opposition to pro-environment legislation. The impact of import shocks on environmental protection is thus an empirical question. I leverage a sudden increase in Chinese imports in the United States after the two countries normalized their trade relations. I examine how import shocks experienced by each congressional district affect the pro-environmental score of the district’s representative in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1992 to 2014. My results show that bigger import shocks are positively associated with higher pro-environmental scores of the legislators. The findings suggest that as import shocks decrease the size of dirty industries, it paves the way for the legislators to pursue more pro-environmental policies. Date: 2025 Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:ginixx:v:51:y:2025:i:4:p:598-638 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from DOI: 10.1080/03050629.2025.2502363 Access Statistics for this article International Interactions is currently edited by Michael Colaresi and Gerald Schneider More articles in International Interactions from Taylor & Francis Journals |
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