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Copyright of Economic Science / Jingji Kexue is the property of Economic Science Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In an era of closer worldwide economic integration, the role that environmental regulations play in shaping a country's comparative advantage is greater than ever. This has led to fears that ‘dirty’ firms will relocate from developed to developing countries where environmental regulations may be less stringent – the so-called pollution haven hypothesis. To date, however, there is little support for the existence of pollution havens despite anecdotal evidence and the theoretical predictions. In this paper we employ a unique industry-level dataset for Japan and examine whether Japanese industries have relocated production to their ASEAN neighbors in response to the relative stringency of Japanese environmental regulations. Not only do we find no evidence for pollution-haven-consistent behavior but also some indication that the complex relationship between the characteristics of Japanese dirty industries and environmental regulations may actually have reduced Japanese outward FDI to the Philippines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an increasingly integrated world, falling trade barriers mean that the role environmental regulations play in shaping a country's comparative advantage is greater than ever. This has lead to fears that “dirty” industries will relocate to developing regions where environmental regulations may be less stringent. A number of reasons have been offered to explain why, despite anecdotal evidence and the predictions of theoretical studies, little empirical verification for the existence of pollution havens has been found. Little attention, however, has been paid to the capital intensity of pollution intensive sectors. We investigate the relationship between US outward FDI and factor endowments across sectors to two developing countries. We highlight the role of capital and believe it partially explains why pollution havens are not more widespread. Our approach also highlights those countries that are likeliest to become pollution havens. A multivariate analysis reveals some evidence of pollution haven consistent behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines and quantifies the complex linkages between industrial activity, environmental regulations and air pollution. Couched in terms of the demand for, and the supply of, environmental services we utilize a new dataset of UK industry specific emissions for a variety of pollutants between 1990 and 1998. Our analysis allows us to investigate the role played by different determinants of emissions intensity. We find pollution intensity to be a positive function of energy use and physical and human capital intensity. Conversely, we find pollution intensity to be a negative function of the size of the average firm in an industry, the productivity of an industry and the industry's expenditure on capital and research and development. Our results also indicate that regulations, both formal and informal, have been successful in reducing pollution intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]