Circular economy policies and initiatives largely take place domestically, and yet they have important interlinkages with international trade. This report explores how to make circular economy policies and trade policies mutually supportive by mapping out potential misalignments and identifying...

This study examines the effect of a tightening of the U.S. air-quality standard for lead in 2009 on the relocation of battery recycling to Mexico and on infant health in Mexico. In the U.S., airborne lead dropped sharply near affected plants, most of which were battery-recycling plants. Exports...

This study investigated the effect of trade liberalization on carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. The exogenous reduction in trade restrictions due to countries' accession to the World Trade Organization is used as a measure of trade liberalization. Using the...

Curbing climate change is gaining increasing consensus globally. While many countries seek to set carbon prices, significant price dispersion and policy stringency continue to raise concerns about competitiveness. To address this issue, the EU has proposed a carbon border adjustment mechanism...

Since the third phase of the European Emission Trading system, sectors that are classified as carbon leakage risky receive all allowances for free up to a specific benchmark. In contrast, sectors that are not classified as being at risk, face an increasing share of allowances that are needed to...

This paper investigates the geographic concentration of water pollution. Chinese firm-level data shows that water pollution emissions are unevenly distributed across regions. Using China’s accession to the World Trade Organization as the exogenous shock, we identify a negative causal effect of...

In March 2020, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) launched a “Cannabis Initiative” with the purpose of issuing “guidelines/manual of good practices on the international drug control requirements for the cultivation, manufacture and utilization of cannabis for medical and...

The EU is considering implementing a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. To inform the policy decision, we assess eight energy-intensive trade-exposed sectors in depth to distill what their characteristics imply for the shape of an ideal mechanism. The results highlight the difficulty of finding...

This paper provides an overhaul of the contribution of exports to industrial sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions in Chinese cities. My estimation strategy exploits the import demand shocks of export destination markets (net of their demand for Chinese products) as a plausibly exogenous source of...

We explore how multilateral environmental regulations may adversely affect trade flows between countries with different incomes. Using the gravity equation, we examine the effect on bilateral trade flows of increases in environmental regulation stringency ratings, taken from survey data covering...