CO2 emissions embodied in China’s export

ABSTRACT

The reduction of CO₂ emissions embodied in export will have an important role for China to achieve its CO₂ emissions peaking target. In this study, we use input–output analysis to examine the embodied CO₂ emissions in China’s export to its top largest trading countries from 2008 to 2015. We find that China’s exported CO₂ emissions peaked in 2008. More than 70% of embodied CO₂ emission were exported to only 20 countries, and CO₂ emissions exported to developing countries have been increasing. High-energy consumption sectors contribute to CO₂ emissions embodied in export significantly, such as Electricity, Gas and Water. We conclude that structural adjustment could be considered alongside technological improvements to curb China’s growing CO₂ emissions.     

Impact of trade openness on GDP growth: Does TFP matter?

ABSTRACT

The objective of this study is to empirically explore the impact of trade openness on GDP growth initiating with the idea that trade openness cannot be fully characterized through the different openness measures only, we propose to account for total factor productivity (TFP) development level as an additional dimension of countries’ trade integration. Our empirical application is based on 35 years’ balanced panel of 82 countries spanning 1980–2014. To address the potential endogeneity issue, we use the system GMM estimator developed for dynamic panel data models. The results outline that there exists an interesting non-linear pattern between trade openness and GDP growth when TFP development level is taken as an intervening variable into account: trade may have a negative impact on GDP growth when countries have specialized in low-TFP development level; trade openness clearly boosts GDP growth once countries exhibit a minimum threshold of TFP development level. Therefore, there is some pattern of complementarity between trade openness and TFP development level so that the higher the TFP development level, the higher the impact of the trade openness on GDP growth.     

中欧贸易隐含碳及政策启示——基于投入产出模型的实证研究

虽然欧盟一直是节能减排的积极倡导者和实践者,但如果欧盟各国通过减少国内生产,增加从中国的进口而实现其减排目标,则其承诺将是毫无意义的。采用投入产出法对中欧贸易隐含碳进行结构分解分析,结果表明:1995—2010年,中国对欧盟净出口隐含碳占到中国总排放量的3.07%～8.41%;技术效应和结构效应都有利于减少碳排放,但是它们却不足以抵消规模效应所导致的碳排放增加。因此,欧盟应对中国的部分碳排放负责,中国则需加大低碳技术的应用,改善生产结构和贸易结构。     

Does services liberalization benefit manufacturing firms?: Evidence from the Czech Republic

While there is considerable empirical evidence on the impact of liberalizing trade in goods, the effects of services liberalization have not been empirically established. This study examines the link between services sector reforms and the productivity of manufacturing industries relying on services inputs. Several aspects of services liberalization are considered, namely, the presence of foreign providers, privatization and the level of competition. The results, based on firm-level data from the Czech Republic, show a positive relationship between services sector reform and the performance of domestic firms in downstream manufacturing sectors. Allowing foreign entry into services industries appears to be the key channel through which services liberalization contributes to improved performance of manufacturing sectors. This finding is supported by evidence that foreign acquisitions of Czech services providers result in profound changes in the labor productivity and sales of acquired firms. As most barriers to foreign investment today are not in goods but in services sectors, the findings of this study may strengthen the argument for reform in this area.     

Production Relocation: Choice Versus Satisfaction Factors: A Preliminary Study

ABSTRACT

This article examines the satisfaction level of production relocation of export oriented firms. We introduce a conceptual model, by incorporating the Expectancy Disconfirmation Paradigm (EDP) model and the Perception model, and use Hotelling T² statistics and paired t-test to measure management's satisfaction levels toward production at the relocated location. Most of the extant literatures focus on the choice decision of production relocation; this report, however, focuses on the manufacturer's satisfaction level toward the selected location. While location choice is an ex ante analysis, satisfaction analysis is an ex post analysis on production relocation. Findings of the study show that among the 20 location factors, political stability and sufficient industrial engineers are the best predictors of electronics manufacturers' satisfaction on production relocation. A firm may consider relocating the production again if dissatisfaction grows. This may explain, at least partly, the international movements of production relocation during the past decades.     

Policy choice: Theory and evidence from commitment via international trade agreements

Why do governments employ inefficient policies when more efficient ones are available for the same purpose? We address this puzzle in the context of redistribution toward special interest groups (SIGs) by focusing on a set of important policies: tariffs and non-tariff barriers (NTBs). In our policy choice model a government can gain by committing to constrain tariffs through international agreements even if this leads to the use of less efficient NTBs; commitment has political value because it improves the bargaining position of a government that is weak relative to domestic SIGs. Using detailed data we find support for several of the model's predictions including: (i) tariff commitments in trade agreements increase the likelihood and restrictiveness of NTBs but not enough to offset the original tariff reductions; (ii) tariff commitments are more likely to be adopted and more stringent when the government is weaker relative to a SIG. Thus, the results can explain the use of inefficient policies for redistribution and suggest that the bargaining motive is an important source of the political value of commitment in international agreements.     

The Nature and Management of Ethical Corporate Identity: A Commentary on Corporate Identity,Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethics

In this paper we open up the topic of ethical corporate identity: what we believe to be a new, as well as highly salient, field of inquiry for scholarship in ethics and corporate social responsibility. Taking as our starting point Balmer’s (in Balmer and Greyser, 2002) AC²ID test model of corporate identity – a pragmatic tool of identity management – we explore the specificities of an ethical form of corporate identity. We draw key insights from conceptualizations of corporate social responsibility and stakeholder theory. We argue ethical identity potentially takes us beyond the personification of the corporation. Instead, ethical identity is seen to be formed relationally, between parties, within a community of business and social exchange. Extending the AC²ID test model, we suggest the management of ethical identity requires a more socially, dialogically embedded kind of corporate practice and greater levels of critical reflexivity. John M. T. Balmer is Professor of Corporate Brand/Identity Management at Bradford University School of Management. His research focuses on a range of corporate-level marketing issues and has a particular interest in the management of corporate brands and identities. His work has been published in leading journals such as California Management Review and Long Range Planning. With Stephen Greyser he co-authored Revealing the Corporation (Routledge, 2003). Kyoko Fukukawa is a lecturer in marketing at Bradford University School of Management and holds a Ph.D. from University of Nottingham, UK. Her research interests include ethical decision-making in consumption and business practices; corporate social responsibility (CSR) of MNCs concerning their policies and strategic communication; and CSR and corporate branding. Her publications appear in Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Corporate Citizenship and others. Edmund R. Gray is Professor and Chair in the Department of Management at Loyola Marymount University. He is author or co-author of five textbooks and numerous scholarly articles. He holds a Ph.D. from UCLA. His research interests centre around issues of corporate identity, corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability. Currently, he is conducting research on entrepreneurial firms with environmental/social goals that are an integral part of their mission.