Governing Trade: A Cross-national Study of Governance, Trade, and CO2 Emissions

Authors

Andrew Hargrove, University of South FloridaFollow
Feng Hao, University of South FloridaFollow
Jamie Marie Sommer, University of South FloridaFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2022

Keywords

Governance, Trade, CO2, Climate change, Cross-national

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-022-00772-y

Abstract

Research in the environmental political-economic tradition considers what historical, colonial, and neoliberal factors contribute to the unequal exchange of natural resources, pollution, and environmental damage, though less research considers internal impacts of the state on CO₂ emissions. This is surprising as previous theory and case study work suggest that the relative strength, power, and governance capabilities of the state can help reduce negative environmental impacts of trade. Thus, in this research, we question if high levels of governance within a nation help reduce CO₂ emissions from trade. In this article, we test how trade as a percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and several governance indicators (control of corruption, rule of law, and government effectiveness) on CO₂ emissions per capita using two-way fixed effects regression with robust standard errors by country for 136 nations, 1995–2013. To test our hypothesis that governance reduces the detrimental environmental impacts of trade on CO₂ emissions, we include interaction terms between each governance measure and trade in our models. Generally, we find that internal state factors can mitigate the impact of international trade on CO₂ emissions, which is an important breakthrough given our global necessity for international trade, economic growth, and overcoming climate change.

Was this content written or created while at USF?

Yes

Citation / Publisher Attribution

Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, v. 12, p. 727-738

Scholar Commons Citation

Hargrove, Andrew; Hao, Feng; and Sommer, Jamie Marie, "Governing Trade: A Cross-national Study of Governance, Trade, and CO2 Emissions" (2022). Sociology Sarasota Manatee Campus Faculty Publications. 37.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/soc_facpub_sm/37