The Effectiveness of Environmental Provisions in Regional Trade Agreements

The Effectiveness of Environmental Provisions in Regional Trade Agreements

Trade liberalization can spur environmental degradation. Concerns over these adverse impacts have led to a debate over the need for environmental provisions in regional trade agreements (RTAs), however the effectiveness of such provisions is unknow...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Abman, Ryan, Lundberg, Clark, Ruta, Michele
Format: Working Paper
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2021
Subjects:
DEFORESTATION
REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENT
TRADE LIBERALIZATION
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
CLIMATE CHANGE
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/980421616686312761/The-Effectiveness-of-Environmental-Provisions-in-Regional-Trade-Agreements
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35354
id okr-10986-35354
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-353542022-09-20T00:08:58Z The Effectiveness of Environmental Provisions in Regional Trade Agreements Abman, Ryan Lundberg, Clark Ruta, Michele DEFORESTATION REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENT TRADE LIBERALIZATION ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY CLIMATE CHANGE Trade liberalization can spur environmental degradation. Concerns over these adverse impacts have led to a debate over the need for environmental provisions in regional trade agreements (RTAs), however the effectiveness of such provisions is unknown. This paper provides new causal evidence that environmental provisions are effective in limiting deforestation following the entry into force of RTAs. It exploits high-resolution, satellite-derived estimates of deforestation and identify the content of RTAs using a new dataset with detailed information on individual provisions. Accounting for the potential endogeneity of environmental provisions in RTAs, the paper finds that the inclusion of specific provisions aimed at protecting forests and/or biodiversity entirely offsets the net increases in forest loss observed in similar RTAs without such provisions. The inclusion of these provisions limits agricultural land expansion, but does not completely offset increases in total agricultural production. The effects are concentrated in tropical, developing countries with greater biodiversity. 2021-04-02T13:48:49Z 2021-04-02T13:48:49Z 2021-03 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/980421616686312761/The-Effectiveness-of-Environmental-Provisions-in-Regional-Trade-Agreements http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35354 English Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9601 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic DEFORESTATION
REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENT
TRADE LIBERALIZATION
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
CLIMATE CHANGE
spellingShingle DEFORESTATION
REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENT
TRADE LIBERALIZATION
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
CLIMATE CHANGE
Abman, Ryan
Lundberg, Clark
Ruta, Michele
The Effectiveness of Environmental Provisions in Regional Trade Agreements
relation Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9601
description Trade liberalization can spur environmental degradation. Concerns over these adverse impacts have led to a debate over the need for environmental provisions in regional trade agreements (RTAs), however the effectiveness of such provisions is unknown. This paper provides new causal evidence that environmental provisions are effective in limiting deforestation following the entry into force of RTAs. It exploits high-resolution, satellite-derived estimates of deforestation and identify the content of RTAs using a new dataset with detailed information on individual provisions. Accounting for the potential endogeneity of environmental provisions in RTAs, the paper finds that the inclusion of specific provisions aimed at protecting forests and/or biodiversity entirely offsets the net increases in forest loss observed in similar RTAs without such provisions. The inclusion of these provisions limits agricultural land expansion, but does not completely offset increases in total agricultural production. The effects are concentrated in tropical, developing countries with greater biodiversity.
format Working Paper
author Abman, Ryan
Lundberg, Clark
Ruta, Michele
author_facet Abman, Ryan
Lundberg, Clark
Ruta, Michele
author_sort Abman, Ryan
title The Effectiveness of Environmental Provisions in Regional Trade Agreements
title_short The Effectiveness of Environmental Provisions in Regional Trade Agreements
title_full The Effectiveness of Environmental Provisions in Regional Trade Agreements
title_fullStr The Effectiveness of Environmental Provisions in Regional Trade Agreements
title_full_unstemmed The Effectiveness of Environmental Provisions in Regional Trade Agreements
title_sort effectiveness of environmental provisions in regional trade agreements
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2021
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/980421616686312761/The-Effectiveness-of-Environmental-Provisions-in-Regional-Trade-Agreements
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35354
_version_ 1764482859170529280

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