Environmental Regulations and the Cleanup of Manufacturing: Plant-Level Evidence

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Najjar, Nouri; Cherniwchan, Jevan
• 署名单位: Western University (University of Western Ontario); Carleton University
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6535
• DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_00904
• 发表日期: 2021-07
• 页码: 476-491
• 关键词: trade; pollution; reallocations; TECHNOLOGY; intensity; IMPACT; FIRMS

摘要

For much of the industrialized world, pollution from manufacturing has been falling despite increased output. We examine how air quality standards---a common environmental regulation---have contributed to this cleanup of manufacturing. We develop a general equilibrium model to show how air quality standards can lead to a cleanup by causing reductions in plant emission intensity, relative changes in plant output, and plant entry and exit. We provide quasi-experimental evidence from Canada to highlight the magnitude of these responses. Our results suggest that air quality standards explain just under 40% of the cleanup of manufacturing.