Moving to Greener Pastures? Multinationals and the Pollution Haven Hypothesis

Gunnar Eskeland and Ann Harrison

No 8888, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: This paper presents evidence on whether multinationals are flocking to developing country 'pollution havens'. Although we find some evidence that foreign investors locate in sectors with high levels of air pollution, the evidence is weak at best. We then examine whether foreign firms pollute less than their peers. We find that foreign plants are significantly more energy efficient and use cleaner types of energy. We conclude with an analysis of US outbound investment. Although the pattern of US foreign investment is skewed towards industries with high costs of pollution abatement, the results are not robust across specifications.

JEL-codes: F23 Q2 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2002-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-res
Note: ITI
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (38)

Published as Eskeland, Gunnar S. and Ann E. Harrison. "Moving To Greener Pastures? Multinationals And The Pollution Haven Hypothesis," Journal of Development Economics, 2003, v70(1,Feb), 1-23.

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Related works:
Journal Article: Moving to greener pastures? Multinationals and the pollution haven hypothesis (2003)
Working Paper: Moving to greener pastures: multinationals and the pollution-haven hypothesis (1997)
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