Department of Economics, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston,
Birmingham, B15 2TT, United Kingdom, Tel. 44 (0)121 414 6639, Fax. 44 (0)121 414 7377, E-mail m.a.cole@bham.ac.uk
Abstract
This paper examines the extent to
which the EKC inverted U relationship can be explained by trade and
specifically the migration or displacement of ‘dirty’ industries from the
developed regions to the developing regions (the pollution haven hypothesis
(PHH)). Using detailed data on North-South trade flows for pollution intensive
products the evidence for the PHH is assessed. Emissions of 10 air and water
pollutants are then estimated, controlling for trade openness, structural
change and ‘dirty’ North-South trade flows. Evidence of pollution haven effects
is found, although such effects do not appear to be widespread and appear to be
relatively small compared to the roles played other explanatory variables.
JEL Classification: O10, O13, F18,
Q25
Keywords: Economic growth, Trade,
Environmental Degradation, Pollution Haven Hypothesis, Environmental Kuznets
Curves.
I would like to thank Kenichi Shimamoto for very helpful research assistance and also gratefully acknowledge the support of ESRC grant number RES-000-22-0016.