Trade, Environmental Regulations and the World Trade Organization: New Empirical Evidence
The paper empirically explores the linkages between environmental regulations and international trade flows. So far, empirical studies either have failed to find any close statistical relationship or have delivered questionable results due to data...
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
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World Bank, Washington, D.C.
2013
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2004/07/4986997/trade-environmental-regulations-world-trade-organization-new-empirical-evidence http://hdl.handle.net/10986/14171 |
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okr-10986-141712021-04-23T14:03:21Z Trade, Environmental Regulations and the World Trade Organization: New Empirical Evidence Busse, Matthias ABATEMENT ABATEMENT COSTS ACID RAIN AIR QUALITY ASYMMETRIC INFORMATION CAPITAL GOODS CLIMATE CHANGE COAL COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE COMPETITIVENESS COMPLIANCE COSTS COST SAVINGS DAMAGES DEVELOPED COUNTRIES DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS DIRECT INVESTMENT DISPUTE RESOLUTION ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC THEORY ECONOMICS RESEARCH ECONOMISTS EMISSIONS EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE EMPIRICAL STUDIES ENDANGERED SPECIES ENFORCEABLE PROPERTY RIGHTS ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES ENVIRONMENTAL LAW ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES EXTERNALITIES GLOBAL TRADE GLOBAL WARMING IMPORTS INCOME INCOME LEVELS INCOMPLETE MARKETS INTERNATIONAL TRADE IRON LABOR FORCE LAND USE LIVING STANDARDS MARKET FAILURE METALS MULTILATERAL RULES MULTILATERAL TRADING SYSTEM NATIONAL INCOME NATURAL RESOURCES NEGATIVE EXTERNALITIES NET EXPORTS OIL POLLUTION POLLUTION ABATEMENT POLLUTION LEVELS PRODUCERS PRODUCTION COSTS PROPERTY RIGHTS SAVINGS SCALE EFFECT SOCIAL COSTS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT TOTAL COSTS TRADE BARRIERS TRADE LIBERALIZATION TRADE RESTRICTIONS TREATIES VAN WAGES WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION WTO TRADE ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS INTERNATIONAL TRADE GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TARIFFS & TRADE COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGES INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS WORLD TRADE ORGANISATION The paper empirically explores the linkages between environmental regulations and international trade flows. So far, empirical studies either have failed to find any close statistical relationship or have delivered questionable results due to data limitations. Using a comprehensive new database for environmental regulations across countries, a thorough empirical investigation of that linkage for 119 countries and five high-polluting industries is performed. No evidence is found to support the pollution hypothesis that industries facing above-average abatement costs with environmental regulations would prefer pollution havens and relocate their activities. The exception is iron and steel products, where a negative and statistically significant link is established, implying that higher compliance with international treaties and conventions and more stringent regulations are associated with reduced net exports. High-income countries, where environmental regulations are usually more stringent in comparison to middle or low income countries, have experienced a considerable decline in the export-import ratio of iron and steel products since the late 1970s. There is no clear evidence that national governments choose sub-optimal policies that result in insufficient regulations, so the case for environmental standards within the WTO framework is relatively weak. 2013-06-25T16:05:37Z 2013-06-25T16:05:37Z 2004-07 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2004/07/4986997/trade-environmental-regulations-world-trade-organization-new-empirical-evidence http://hdl.handle.net/10986/14171 English en_US Policy Research Working Paper;No.3361 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, D.C. Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Publications & Research |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English en_US |
| topic |
ABATEMENT ABATEMENT COSTS ACID RAIN AIR QUALITY ASYMMETRIC INFORMATION CAPITAL GOODS CLIMATE CHANGE COAL COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE COMPETITIVENESS COMPLIANCE COSTS COST SAVINGS DAMAGES DEVELOPED COUNTRIES DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS DIRECT INVESTMENT DISPUTE RESOLUTION ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC THEORY ECONOMICS RESEARCH ECONOMISTS EMISSIONS EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE EMPIRICAL STUDIES ENDANGERED SPECIES ENFORCEABLE PROPERTY RIGHTS ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES ENVIRONMENTAL LAW ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES EXTERNALITIES GLOBAL TRADE GLOBAL WARMING IMPORTS INCOME INCOME LEVELS INCOMPLETE MARKETS INTERNATIONAL TRADE IRON LABOR FORCE LAND USE LIVING STANDARDS MARKET FAILURE METALS MULTILATERAL RULES MULTILATERAL TRADING SYSTEM NATIONAL INCOME NATURAL RESOURCES NEGATIVE EXTERNALITIES NET EXPORTS OIL POLLUTION POLLUTION ABATEMENT POLLUTION LEVELS PRODUCERS PRODUCTION COSTS PROPERTY RIGHTS SAVINGS SCALE EFFECT SOCIAL COSTS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT TOTAL COSTS TRADE BARRIERS TRADE LIBERALIZATION TRADE RESTRICTIONS TREATIES VAN WAGES WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION WTO TRADE ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS INTERNATIONAL TRADE GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TARIFFS & TRADE COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGES INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS WORLD TRADE ORGANISATION |
| spellingShingle |
ABATEMENT ABATEMENT COSTS ACID RAIN AIR QUALITY ASYMMETRIC INFORMATION CAPITAL GOODS CLIMATE CHANGE COAL COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE COMPETITIVENESS COMPLIANCE COSTS COST SAVINGS DAMAGES DEVELOPED COUNTRIES DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS DIRECT INVESTMENT DISPUTE RESOLUTION ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC THEORY ECONOMICS RESEARCH ECONOMISTS EMISSIONS EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE EMPIRICAL STUDIES ENDANGERED SPECIES ENFORCEABLE PROPERTY RIGHTS ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES ENVIRONMENTAL LAW ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES EXTERNALITIES GLOBAL TRADE GLOBAL WARMING IMPORTS INCOME INCOME LEVELS INCOMPLETE MARKETS INTERNATIONAL TRADE IRON LABOR FORCE LAND USE LIVING STANDARDS MARKET FAILURE METALS MULTILATERAL RULES MULTILATERAL TRADING SYSTEM NATIONAL INCOME NATURAL RESOURCES NEGATIVE EXTERNALITIES NET EXPORTS OIL POLLUTION POLLUTION ABATEMENT POLLUTION LEVELS PRODUCERS PRODUCTION COSTS PROPERTY RIGHTS SAVINGS SCALE EFFECT SOCIAL COSTS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT TOTAL COSTS TRADE BARRIERS TRADE LIBERALIZATION TRADE RESTRICTIONS TREATIES VAN WAGES WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION WTO TRADE ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS INTERNATIONAL TRADE GENERAL AGREEMENT ON TARIFFS & TRADE COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGES INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS WORLD TRADE ORGANISATION Busse, Matthias Trade, Environmental Regulations and the World Trade Organization: New Empirical Evidence |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Paper;No.3361 |
| description |
The paper empirically explores the
linkages between environmental regulations and international
trade flows. So far, empirical studies either have failed to
find any close statistical relationship or have delivered
questionable results due to data limitations. Using a
comprehensive new database for environmental regulations
across countries, a thorough empirical investigation of that
linkage for 119 countries and five high-polluting industries
is performed. No evidence is found to support the pollution
hypothesis that industries facing above-average abatement
costs with environmental regulations would prefer pollution
havens and relocate their activities. The exception is iron
and steel products, where a negative and statistically
significant link is established, implying that higher
compliance with international treaties and conventions and
more stringent regulations are associated with reduced net
exports. High-income countries, where environmental
regulations are usually more stringent in comparison to
middle or low income countries, have experienced a
considerable decline in the export-import ratio of iron and
steel products since the late 1970s. There is no clear
evidence that national governments choose sub-optimal
policies that result in insufficient regulations, so the
case for environmental standards within the WTO framework is
relatively weak. |
| format |
Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper |
| author |
Busse, Matthias |
| author_facet |
Busse, Matthias |
| author_sort |
Busse, Matthias |
| title |
Trade, Environmental Regulations and the World Trade Organization: New Empirical Evidence |
| title_short |
Trade, Environmental Regulations and the World Trade Organization: New Empirical Evidence |
| title_full |
Trade, Environmental Regulations and the World Trade Organization: New Empirical Evidence |
| title_fullStr |
Trade, Environmental Regulations and the World Trade Organization: New Empirical Evidence |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Trade, Environmental Regulations and the World Trade Organization: New Empirical Evidence |
| title_sort |
trade, environmental regulations and the world trade organization: new empirical evidence |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, D.C. |
| publishDate |
2013 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2004/07/4986997/trade-environmental-regulations-world-trade-organization-new-empirical-evidence http://hdl.handle.net/10986/14171 |
| _version_ |
1764430468125556736 |