Pollution Havens and the Trade in Toxic Chemicals: Evidence from U.S. Trade Flows

John Tang

Working Papers from U.S. Census Bureau, Center for Economic Studies

Abstract: Does increased environmental protection decrease the emission of pollutants or merely displace them? Using newly available trade data, this study examines the flows of a panel of chemicals designated as toxic by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). Estimates from a differences-in-differences model indicate a significant increase in net imports when a chemical is listed on TRI, which suggests production offshoring. Furthermore, I find that increased imports due to this “pollution haven effect” are sourced disproportionately from poorer countries, which are likely to have lower environmental protection standards. At the same time, I observe the bulk of American trade in toxic chemicals occurs with other wealthy countries, which may be attributed to the capital intensity of chemical production.

Pages: 26 pages
Date: 2010-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-env and nep-int
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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https://www2.census.gov/ces/wp/2010/CES-WP-10-12.pdf First version, 2010 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Pollution havens and the trade in toxic chemicals: Evidence from U.S. trade flows (2015)
Working Paper: Pollution Havens and the Trade in Toxic Chemicals: Evidence from U.S. Trade Flows (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cen:wpaper:10-12

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