Import competition and the improvement in pollutant discharge from heterogeneous enterprises: Evidence from China

With the deepening of trade liberalization, import competition has become increasingly fierce in China. In addition, the Chinese government has been setting higher requirements for environmental quality. Corporate pollutant emission behavior is a subject of broad concern. This paper uses panel data from 2000 to 2007 to study the impact of import competition on the pollution emission intensity of heterogeneous manufacturing enterprises. The main results are as follows. (1) Import competition can inhibit the SO2 emission intensity of highproductivity manufacturing enterprises. The conclusion remains robust after a series of robustness tests. (2) Heterogeneity analysis shows that import competition significantly impacts corporate pollution emission behavior in eastern regions and frontier industries. (3) The reallocation effect and the technology effect are the main channels through which import competition improves the pollution emissions of high-productivity manufacturing enterprises. This paper provides a more comprehensive perspective for studying the impact of import competition and proposes a new direction for enterprise pollution control.

Automated summary

This paper studies the impact of import competition on pollution emission intensity of manufacturing enterprises in China. The results show that import competition can inhibit the SO2 emission intensity of high-productivity manufacturing enterprises, and significantly impacts corporate pollution emission behavior in eastern regions and frontier industries. The main channels through which import competition improves pollution emissions of high-productivity manufacturing enterprises are the reallocation effect and the technology effect.