Exporting and environmental performance: Where you export matters.
- Resource Type
- Article
- Authors
- Blyde, Juan S.; Ramirez, Mayra A.
- Source
- Journal of International Trade & Economic Development. Aug2022, Vol. 31 Issue 5, p672-691. 20p. 13 Charts, 2 Graphs.
- Subject
- *HIGH-income countries
*PANEL analysis
*TARGET marketing
*PLACE marketing
*EXPORTS
*KUZNETS curve
DEVELOPING countries
- Language
- ISSN
- 0963-8199
Empirical analyses that rely on micro-level panel data have found that exporters are generally less pollutant than non-exporters. While alternative explanations have been proposed, firm-level data has not been used to examine the role of destination markets behind the relationship between exports and pollution. In this paper, we argue that because consumers in high-income countries have higher valuations for clean environments than consumers in developing countries, exporters targeting high-income countries are more likely to improve their environmental outcomes than exporters targeting destinations where valuations for the environment are not high. Using a panel of firm-level data from Chile we find support to this hypothesis. A 10 percentage point increase in the share of exports to high-income countries is associated with a reduction in CO2 pollution intensity of about 16%. The results have important implications for firms in developing countries aiming to target high-income markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]