Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Title: Import Competition and Firm-Level CO2 Emissions: Evidence from the German Manufacturing Industry
Author-Name: Jakob Lehr
Author-Email: jakob.lehr@uni-mannheim.de
Classification-JEL: F18, Q54, L60, D22
Keywords: CO2 Emission Intensity, Energy Efficiency, Import Competition, Manufacturing Firms, Environment, Germany

Abstract: Using the German census of the manufacturing industry, I analyze the impact of import
competition on carbon emissions per unit of deflated sales (emission intensity). I combine
precise information on firm-level CO2 emissions with sector-level trade flows. Looking at
the period 1995 until 2017, I focus on the impact of the rise of Eastern Europe and China
while addressing the endogeneity of trade flows with an instrumental variable approach. The
baseline results suggest that a 1pp increase in the import penetration ratio caused a reduction
of the average firms’ emission intensity by approximately 0.3%. This result implies that the
rise of the joint East kept the average firm emission intensity 6% below the level it would
have had in the absence of the East’s rise. I do not find strong indication for reallocation of
production towards more efficient firms. Finally, I supplement the analysis by examining the
effect of export opportunities due to the East’s rise. The results indicate that exporting to the
East increased sales and, through that channel, lowered emission intensities.


Note: 
Length: 53
Creation-Date: 2023-12
Revision-Date:
File-URL: https://www.crctr224.de/research/discussion-papers/archive/dp488
File-Format: application/pdf
Handle: RePEc:bon:boncrc:CRCTR224_2023_488