Global firms and emissions: Investigating the dual channels of emissions abatement

Abstract

This paper finds that both importing and exporting reduce firm-level emission intensities. We develop a theoretical model in which firms jointly determine the extent of abatement investment as well as whether or not to import intermediate inputs and export final goods. The model demonstrates a complementarity between trading decisions and abatement investment such that trading firms invest more in abatement technology and feature lower emission intensities. Using Chinese firm-level data, we estimate a theory-based regression model with instrument variables to account for the endogeneity issue associated with firms’ trading statuses. Our regression results show that both importing and exporting reduce firm-level emission intensities by over 15 percent.