American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
Technology, International Trade, and Pollution from US Manufacturing
American Economic Review
vol. 99,
no. 5, December 2009
(pp. 2177–92)
Abstract
Pollution emitted by US manufacturers declined markedly over the past several decades, even as real manufacturing output increased. I first show that most of the decline in US manufacturing pollution has resulted from changing production processes ("technology"), rather than changes in the mix of goods produced. I then show that increased net imports of polluting goods ("international trade") accounts for only a small portion of the pollution reductions from the changing mix of goods. Together, these two findings demonstrate that shifting polluting industries overseas explains only a minor part -- less than 10 percent -- of the cleanup of US manufacturing. (JEL F18, L23, L60, O30, Q52, Q53)Citation
Levinson, Arik. 2009. "Technology, International Trade, and Pollution from US Manufacturing." American Economic Review, 99 (5): 2177–92. DOI: 10.1257/aer.99.5.2177Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- F18 Trade and Environment
- L23 Organization of Production
- L60 Industry Studies: Manufacturing: General
- O30 Technological Change; Research and Development: General
- Q52 Pollution Control Adoption Costs; Distributional Effects; Employment Effects
- Q53 Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling