Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/102172 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 4817
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
This paper develops a model of trade and CO2 emissions with heterogenous firms, where firms make abatement investments and thereby have an impact on their level of emissions. The model shows that investments in abatements are positively related to firm productivity and firm exports. Emission intensity is, however, negatively related to firms. productivity and exports. The basic reason for these results is that a larger production scale supports more investments in abatement and, in turn, lower emissions per output. We show that the overall effect of trade is to reduce emissions. Trade weeds out some of the least productive and dirtiest firms thereby shifting production away from relatively dirty low productive local firms to more productive and cleaner exporters. The overall effect of trade is therefore to reduce emissions. We test empirical implications of the model using unique Swedish firm-level data. The empirical results support our model.
Subjects: 
heterogeneous firms
CO2-emissions
international trade
JEL: 
F12
F14
F18
Q56
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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