Trade, Technique and Composition Effects: What is Behind the Fall in World-wide SO2 Emissions, 1990-2000?

Jaime de Melo, Jean-Marie Grether and Nicole Mathys

No 6522, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: Combining unique data bases on emissions with sectoral output and employment data, we study the sources of the fall in world-wide SO2 emissions and estimate the impact of trade on emissions. Contrarily to concerns raised by environmentalists, an emission-decomposition exercise shows that scale effects are dominated by technique effects working towards a reduction in emissions. A second exercise comparing the actual trade situation with an autarky benchmark estimates that trade, by allowing clean countries to become net importers of emissions, leads to a 10% increase in world emissions with respect to autarky in 1990, a figure that shrinks to 3.5% in 2000. Additionally, back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that emissions related to transport are of smaller magnitude, roughly 3% in both periods. In a third exercise, we use linear programming to simulate extreme situations where world emissions are either maximal or minimal. It turns out that effective emissions correspond to a 90% reduction with respect to the worst case, but that another 80% reduction could be reached if emissions were minimal.

Keywords: Embodied emissions in trade; Transport; Decomposition; Environment; Growth; Trade (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F11 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2007-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene, nep-env and nep-int
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Trade, Technique and Composition Effects: What is Behind the Fall in World-Wide SO2 Emissions 1990-2000? (2007)
Working Paper: Trade, Technique and Composition Effects: What is Behind the Fall in World-Wide SO2 Emissions 1990-2000? (2007)
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