Abstract: This paper exploits the China–Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA), an asymmetric pairing of resource-intensive Australia and manufacturing-intensive China, to estimate the emissions effects of trade liberalisation. Under the factor endowment hypothesis, this asymmetry provides particularly favourable conditions for a composition shift towards emission-intensive goods, since Australia’s comparative advantage lies in pollution-intensive resource extraction. I apply a PPML gravity approach to chain-linked OECD ICIO and GHG Footprint data (1995–2020, 76 countries, 40 industries). Trade flows are deflated through Previous Year Prices, which removes commodity price effects within the IO framework. I find a large and asymmetric rise in embodied emissions driven by trade creation. ChAFTA raised Australian exports to China by 60% and Chinese exports to Australia by 24%, with embodied emissions rising 65% and 35% respectively. Yet changes to the industry mix in both countries were small; Australia’s export structure even shifted away from dirty industries. This reflects a pre-existing environmental bias in trade policy, where emission-intensive products faced lower tariffs prior to the agreement. Under uniform tariff elimination, cleaner industries therefore benefited from larger preferential margins. Across four additional Asia-Pacific FTAs, no bilateral pairing shows a significant shift towards dirty industries, suggesting that trade agreements can actually shift trade composition towards cleaner industries.

(Draft available upon request)

Abstract: This paper estimates the causal effect of export demand shocks on plant-level energy intensity in manufacturing. Identifying this effect is difficult because energy-efficient firms self-select into export markets. I exploit the 2018–2019 US–China trade war as a source of plausibly exogenous variation: US tariffs on Chinese goods generated large demand shocks for Vietnamese manufacturers producing close substitutes. Using plant-level data from the Vietnam Enterprise Survey and a Bartik-style measure of firm-specific exposure, I trace the effects on output, energy use, and energy intensity. Preliminary results indicate that exposed plants expanded output and energy use substantially, while the ratio of energy to output remained stable. The detailed energy data further allows decomposition by fuel type, enabling investigation of whether demand-driven growth shifts the energy mix toward or away from cleaner sources. 

Abstract: Since the first industrial zones (IZ) was established more than two decades ago, the number of IZs in Viet Nam has mushroomed to meet the demand of national industrial development. However, it is challenging for enterprises, IZs’ infrastructure developers, policy-makers and other users to assess the competence of IZs for their location decisions due to the substantial number of IZs, the insufficiency of information of IZs, the lack of suitable and reliable ranking methods and the absence of a ready-made ranking of all IZs in Viet Nam. Thus, there is an urgent need to identify precisely the ‘attractiveness’ level of the existing IZs based on their own characteristics or in other words, to make a ranking of IZs nationwide. Toward this purpose, this study applied the multi-criteria analysis method to rank the IZs in Viet Nam. This paper is the first ever to successfully conduct a ranking of IZs in Viet Nam with a database constructed at both macro and micro levels, including local economic environment, accessibility, infrastructure, and financial expenses. The ranking is expected to be a useful instrument for enterprises to choose their locations as well as for IZs’ infrastructure developers to measure the attractiveness levels of their IZs to develop better business plans. Moreover, it can be used as a basis for policy makers in IZs planning in a more reasonable and scientific manner.

ISSN: 1979-3561. DOI: http://doi.org/10.31387/oscm0460310

Link here

Abstract: This report examines the design and implementation of EIAs to understand their methodologies and effectiveness. It emphasizes the importance of aligning trade policies with sustainable development to support global sustainability goals. The study analyzes 124 EIAs, providing insights into their geographical and thematic scope and setting a benchmark for future assessments. It highlights the roles of international organizations and national governments in maintaining environmental standards. The findings are crucial for policymakers, environmental advocates, and trade negotiators, advocating for the integration of environmental considerations in trade agreements for a sustainable global trading system.

Draft: PDF

Draft: PDF