The cleanup of US manufacturing through pollution offshoring

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Choi, Jaerim; Hyun, Jay; Kim, Gueyon; Park, Ziho
• 署名单位: Yonsei University; University of Alberta; University of California System; University of California Santa Cruz; National Taiwan University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-1996
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jinteco.2025.104046
• 发表日期: 2025
• 关键词: Manufacturing cleanup; Pollution offshoring; pollution haven; environmental regulation; Environment and trade

摘要

We study the role of offshoring in understanding long-run environmental impacts of trade liberalization and the cleanup of US manufacturing. Leveraging establishment-level pollution emissions and business activity data and a change in US trade policy toward China in the early 2000s, we show that US establishments decrease toxic emissions in response to a reduction in trade policy uncertainty. Emission abatement is mainly driven by a decline in pollution emission intensity. We provide comprehensive evidence that highlights the role of offshoring: US manufacturers, especially those that emit pollutants intensely, source from abroad and establish more subsidiaries in China following the event.