Moving to Greener Pastures? Multinationals and the Pollution-Haven Hypothesis

Moving to Greener Pastures? Multinationals and the Pollution-Haven Hypothesis
Author: Gunnar S. Eskeland
Publisher:
Total Pages: 41
Release: 2016
Genre:
ISBN:

Eskeland and Harrison find almost no evidence that investors in developing countries are fleeing environmental costs at home. Instead, the evidence suggests that foreign-owned plants in four developing countries are less polluting than comparable domestic plants.Are multinationals flocking to pollution havens in developing countries? Using data from four developing countries (Cocirc;te d`Ivoire, Mexico, Morocco, and Venezuela), Eskeland and Harrison examine the pattern of foreign investment. They find almost no evidence that foreign investors are concentrated in dirty sectors.They also examine the behavior of multinationals doing business in these four countries, testing whether there is any tendency for foreign firms to pollute more or less than their host-country counterparts. To do this, they use consumption of energy and dirty fuels as a proxy for pollution intensity. They find that foreign plants in these four developing countries are significantly more energy-efficient and use cleaner types of energy than their domestic counterparts.Eskeland and Harrison conclude with an analysis of U.S. outbound investment between 1982 and 1994. They reject the hypothesis that the pattern of U.S. foreign investment is skewed toward industries in which the cost of pollution abatement is high.This paper - a product of the Public Economics Division, Policy Research Department - is part of a larger effort in the department to analyze environmental policy problems. The study was funded by the Bank's Research Support Budget under the research project Pollution and the Choice of Economic Policy Instruments in Developing Countries (RPO 676-78).

Pollution Havens and Foreign Direct Investment

Pollution Havens and Foreign Direct Investment
Author: Beata K. Smarzynska Javorcik
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 36
Release: 2001
Genre: Air quality management
ISBN:

The "pollution haven" hypothesis states that multinational firms, particularly those in highly polluting industries, relocate to countries with weak environmental standards. Despite the plausibility and popularity of this hypothesis, Smarzynska and Wei find only weak evidence in its favor.

Greening Trade and Investment

Greening Trade and Investment
Author: Eric Neumayer
Publisher: Earthscan
Total Pages: 244
Release: 2001
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9781853837883

First Published in 2001. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Assessing the Economic Impacts of Environmental Policies Evidence from a Decade of OECD Research

Assessing the Economic Impacts of Environmental Policies Evidence from a Decade of OECD Research
Author: OECD
Publisher: OECD Publishing
Total Pages: 125
Release: 2021-05-17
Genre:
ISBN: 926436711X

Over the past decades, governments have gradually adopted more rigorous environmental policies to tackle challenges associated with pressing environmental issues, such as climate change. The ambition of these policies is, however, often tempered by their perceived negative effects on the economy.

Moving to Greener Pastures?

Moving to Greener Pastures?
Author: Gunnar S. Eskeland
Publisher:
Total Pages: 52
Release: 2002
Genre: Air
ISBN:

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.

Environmental Regulation

Environmental Regulation
Author: John F. McEldowney
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2014
Genre: Environmental law
ISBN: 9780857938206

Featuring an original introduction by the editors, this important collection of essays explores the main issues surrounding the regulation of the environment. The expert contributors illustrate that regulating the environment in the UK is conceptually complex, involves a diverse range of institutions, techniques and methodologies and crosses geographical and national boundaries. In the USA it is more formalised, juridical, adversarial and formally dependent upon legal rules. The articles highlight the fact that despite differences in the UK and the USA's regulatory styles, environmental regulation today has much in common with both traditions.

Governing the Environment

Governing the Environment
Author: Marc Allen Eisner
Publisher:
Total Pages: 340
Release: 2007
Genre: Nature
ISBN:

This comprehensive overview of US environmental regulation?from the inception of the EPA through the current Bush administration?goes beyond traditional texts to consider alternatives to the existing regulatory regime, as well as the challenges posed by the global nature of environmental issues.Thoughtful and even-handed, Governing the Environment covers the full range of topics relevant to our understanding of current environmental policy. Clear, concise chapters move from the context of environmental policy to regulatory design, reform efforts, and notable private-sector innovations.In the process, the author argues that we?ve taken conventional environmental regulation as far as we can go?that we need to look for alternative ways of governing the environment, involving corporations that have expertise in the areas of technology, products, and markets. But, he cautions, there must be a careful integration of private-sector initiatives and public regulation.A notable feature of the text is an examination of the difficulties inherent in managing global environmental problems. Exploring recent efforts toward global environmental governance in the face of competing economic demands, the final section considers the ways in which a system of governance might compensate for the lack of effective international regulatory institutions.Marc Allen Eisner is Henry Merritt Wriston Chair of Public Policy in the Government Department at Wesleyan University. His publications include Antitrust and the Triumph of Economics and Contemporary Regulatory Policy, 2nd Edition.Contents: Environmental Protection and Governance: An Introduction. Environmental Policy and Politics. A Primer on Environmental Protection. The Environmental Policy Subsystem. The Evolution of Regulatory Design and Reform. Regulatory Design and Performance. Regulatory Reform or Reversal. Reinventing Regulation: Flexibility in an Iron Cage. Voluntarism and the End of Reform. The Emerging System of Green Governance. From Greed to Green: Corporate Environmentalism and Management. Green by Association: Code- and Standards-Based Self-Regulation. Public-Private Hybrids and Environmental Governance. Regulating the Global Commons from the Bottom Up. Beyond the Tragedy of the Global Commons. From Montreal to Kyoto. Sustainable Development: Managing the Unmanageable. Conclusion. Green Governance and the Future of Environmental Protection.