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Mathys, Nicole
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Mathys, Nicole
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nicole.mathys@unine.ch
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Voici les éléments 1 - 8 sur 8
- PublicationAccès libreUnravelling the World-Wide Pollution-Haven Effect(2012-12-17)
; ; de Melo, JaimeThis paper tackles the ?pollution haven? argument by estimating the pollution content of imports (PCI). The PCI is then decomposed into three components: (i) a ?deep? component (i.e. traditional variables unrelated to the environmental debate); (ii) a factor endowment component and (iii) a ?pollution haven? component reflecting the impact of differences in environmental policies. The estimation is carried out for 1987 for an extensive data set covering 10 pollutants, 48 countries and 79 ISIC four-digit sectors. Decompositions based on cross-section econometric estimates suggest a significant pollution haven effect, which increases the PCI of the North because of stricter environmental regulations in the North. At the same time, the factor endowment effect lowers the PCI of the North, as the North is relatively well-endowed in capital and pollution-intensive activities are capital intensive. On a global scale, because the bulk of trade is intra-regional with a high North-North share, these effects are small relative to the ?deep? determinants of the worldwide PCI. Robustness checks performed on a more recent dataset, but limited to sulphur dioxide, confirm these results. In sum, differences in factor endowments and environmental policies only marginally affected the PCI of world trade at the end of the 1980s. - PublicationAccès libreConcilier les politiques commerciales et les politiques climatiques(2012)
- PublicationAccès libreReconciling Trade and Climate PoliciesThe outcome of the 15th conference of the Parties to the UNFCC showed a shift from a top-down approach with a collective target favoring environmental objectives to a bottom-up accord favoring political feasibility. There is no meaningful binding agreement in sight, also because the global climate regime and the global trade policy regime, represented by the WTO, appear to be on a collision course. Following a review of the challenges ahead, the paper argues that trade will have a second-order contribution to world-wide CO2 emissions. Evidence shows increasing carbon transfers through trade, but the magnitude of carbon leakage effects, likely to be induced by differences in climate mitigation policies, may be less than feared in some circles. Trade policy, however, will play a role in implementing climate mitigation policies in two areas: maintaining an open trading system and hence boosting growth and facilitating technological diffusion, and trade policy as a strategic instrument in negotiations. The paper concludes that an agreement with a few guiding principles and leeway where much initial mitigation would first take place unilaterally or in small groups, as under the early days of the GATT, is the most promising way ahead while preserving an open trading system and environmental integrity.
- PublicationAccès librePolitical Economy Aspects of Climate Change Mitigation Efforts(2011)
; de Melo, JaimeNo abstract is available for this item. - PublicationAccès libreGlobal Manufacturing SO2 Emissions: Does Trade Matter?(2010-12-17)
; ; de Melo, JaimeNo abstract is available for this item. - PublicationAccès libreScale, Technique and Composition Effects in Manufacturing SO 2 Emissions(2009-12-17)
; ; de Melo, Jaime - PublicationAccès libreTrade, Technique and Composition Effects: What is Behind the Fall in World-wide SO2 Emissions, 1990-2000?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.
- PublicationAccès libreTrade, Technique and Composition Effects: What is Behind the Fall in World-Wide SO2 Emissions 1990-2000?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 the same magnitude. 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.