Dominique van der Mensbrugghe

The trade and environment nexus in Mexican agriculture. A general equilibrium analysis

This paper analyzes linkages between growth, trade and the environment in Mexican agriculture with an empirical economy-wide model. The investigation considers trade liberalization, environmental policy reform, and their coordination. The analysis decomposes the change in pollution emission induced by changes in the sectoral composition of production, effects of technology on emission intensity, and aggregate scale effects. Outward orientation alone induces a contraction of aggregate agricultural output, but promotes growth and pollution in some agricultural sectors. Overall, free trade does not induce wholesale specialization in dirty agricultural activities. Environmental taxes on pollution emitted in agricultural sectors have a moderate negative impact on agricultural output, except for the tax on water-borne toxic chemicals. More liberal trade combined with targeted effluent taxes can achieve significant environmental mitigation and efficiency gains, but with the implication of a contraction of most agricultural sectors.

Trade and the Environment in General Equilibrium: Evidence from Developing Economies

List of Figures. List of Tables. List of Acronyms and Abbreviations. List of Contributors. Preface. Part A: Methodology and Modelling. 1. Globalisation and the Environment from a Development Perspective J. Beghin, D. Roland-Holst, D. Van der Mensbrugghe. 2. Trade and Environmental Policy Instruments and Reforms J. Beghin. 3. Empirical Modelling of Trade and the Environment J. Beghin, S. Dessus, D. Roland-Holst, D. Van der Mensbrugghe. 4. Input-Based Pollution Estimates for Environmental Assessment in Developing Countries S. Dessus, D. Roland-Holst, D. Van der Mensbrugghe. 5. Modelling Health Impacts of Air Pollution and Their Valuation: An Application to Santiago, Chile B. Bowland, J. Beghin. Part B: Case Studies. 6. Growth, Trade, and the Environment Nexus in Chile: A Comprehensive Assessment J. Beghin, S. Dessus, D. Roland-Holst, D. Van der Mensbrugghe. 7. Trade Liberalisation and the Environment in China S. Dessus, A. El Obeid, D. Van der Mensbrugghe. 8. Coordinated Trade and Environmental Policies for Morocco D. Roland-Holst, M. Bussolo. 9. Outward Orientation, Growth, and the Environment in Vietnam A. El Obeid, D. Van der Mensbrugghe, S. Dessus. 10. Synthesis of Case Studies on Indonesia, Mexico, and Costa Rica A. El Obeid. 11. Conclusions J. Beghin, D. Roland-Holst, D. Van der Mensbrugghe. Index.

General Equilibrium Modelling of Trade and the Environment

The environmental impacts of economic activity have become an increasingly urgent concern in both OECD Member countries, as well as in non-Member countries. Research in this area is still in its infancy, and the data required to buttress analytical studies is still sparse. This paper describes the base model specification for a series of six country case studies undertaken at the OECD Development Centre to analyse the links between growth and emissions, and emissions and trade instruments. The model attempts to capture some of the key features relating to environmental emissions. These features include: a) linking emissions to the consumption of polluting inputs (as opposed to output); b) including emissions generated by final demand consumption; c) integrating substitutability between polluting and non-polluting inputs (including capital and labour); d) capturing important dynamic effects such as capital accumulation, population growth, productivity and technological ... L’interet porte aux consequences de l’activite economique sur l’environnement s’est considerablement accru, aussi bien dans les pays Membres de l’OCDE que dans les pays non membres. La recherche dans ce domaine est encore balbutiante, et les donnees necessaires a l’analyse empirique encore trop rares. Ce document decrit les specifications du modele utilise pour les six etudes de cas entreprises au Centre de Developpement de l’OCDE, afin d’etudier d’une part les liens entre la croissance et la pollution et, d’autre part, les liens entre la pollution et les politiques commerciales. Le modele tend a decrire plusieurs phenomenes cles de la relation entre environnement et activite economique. Ainsi, le modele a) relie les emissions de pollution a la consommation de produits polluants (et non a la production) ; b) inclut les emissions provenant de la demande finale ; c) integre une possibilite de substitution entre intrants polluants et non polluants (comme le capital ou le travail) ; d) ...

Trade and Pollution Linkages

The authors demonstrate how coordinated trade and environmental policy can achieve efficiency and pollution mitigation gains superior to those obtained without such coordination. They show how trade and environment linkages give rise to complex second-best policy issues and derive optimal interventions and sufficient conditions for welfare-improving piecemeal trade and environmental policy reforms in a small economy. Changing trade and environment distortions in proportion to their optimal levels increases welfare. The authors decompose the economic and environment effects of policies targeted at trade and pollution in both consumption and production. They also decompose production responses into output adjustments and changes in pollution intensities.

The interface between growth, trade, pollution and natural resource use in Chile: evidence from an economywide model

We investigate the implications of trade liberalization and pollution taxes on aggregate income, pollution, and natural resource use in Chile with a neoclassical economywide model comprising 75 sectors. The model incorporates 13 measures of pollution effluents which are linked to the use of polluting inputs and energy use. We estimate the economic and environmental impact of Chiles participation in NAFTA, MERCOSUR, of unilateral trade liberalization and effluent taxes. Unilateral trade liberalization induces substantial worsening of pollution emissions and expansion of resource-based sectors, partly because of access to cheaper energy. NAFTA integration is environmentally benign in terms of pollution emissions.