Environmental degradation and international trade: input-output analyses

This thesis focused on the relationship between international trade and environmental degradations. For this research, input-output analyses were used. The period that was analyzed was characterized by ongoing globalization and, in particular, by final goods that became “made in the world” (rather than produced by a single country). Four studies were carried out. First, a structural decomposition analysis was applied to find out what drove the changes in the emissions embodied in trade. Second, the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis was re-examined using data for greenhouse gas emissions that were obtained from applying both the consumption-based and the production-based emission accounting approach. Third, the health and economic consequences of trade were investigated. These effects are due to the imports and exports of emissions of various pollutants and the trade in value added. Finally, the errors were investigated that are introduced by various approximations of the full global multiregional input-output (GMRIO) model. The research that has been undertaken for this thesis has highlighted a number of topics on which further research would be beneficial. These include the extension of the GMRIO data and sensitivity analyses therewith, and the use of GMRIO analyses to evaluate and improve policies.