US Environmental Regulation and FDI: Evidence from a Panel of US-Based Multinational Firms

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Hanna, Rema
• 署名单位: Harvard University
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-APPLIED ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7782
• DOI: 10.1257/app.2.3.158
• 发表日期: 2010
• 页码: 158-189
• 关键词: FOREIGN DIRECT-INVESTMENT; air-quality; abatement costs; plant births; pollution; TRADE; census

摘要

This paper measures the response of US-based multinationals to the Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA). Using a panel of firm-level data over the period 1966-1999, I estimate the effect of regulation on a multinational's foreign production decisions. The CAAA induced substantial variation in the degree of regulation faced by firms, allowing for the estimation of econometric models that control for firm-specific characteristics and industrial trends. I find that the CAAA caused regulated multinational firms to increase their foreign assets by 5.3 percent and their foreign output by 9 percent. Heavily regulated firms did not disproportionately increase foreign investment in developing countries. (JEL F23, K32, L51, Q52, Q53, Q58)