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An Empirical Examination of the Pollution Haven Hypothesis for India: Towards a Green Leontief Paradox?

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Abstract

Using input–output analysis, we examine whether India can be regarded as a pollution haven. We calculate the extra CO2, SO2 and NO x emissions induced by 1 billion rupees of additional exports. This is compared with the reduction of Indian pollution caused by an import increase of equal size. In contrast to what the pollution haven hypothesis states for developing countries, we find that India considerably gains from extra trade. Comparing 1996/1997 with 1991/1992, the gains have only increased, indicating that India has moved␣further away from being a pollution haven. The outcome is robust to changes in the underlying assumptions.

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Acknowledgements

Earlier versions of this paper have been presented at conferences and seminars at the universities of Seville, Oviedo, Leiden and Brussels. The comments of participants and of the two anonymous referees are gratefully acknowledged.

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Correspondence to Erik Dietzenbacher.

Appendix

Appendix

Table A1. Commodity classification
Table A2. Emissions from one billion rupees of extra exports and imports, 1996/1997

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Dietzenbacher, E., Mukhopadhyay, K. An Empirical Examination of the Pollution Haven Hypothesis for India: Towards a Green Leontief Paradox?. Environ Resource Econ 36, 427–449 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10640-006-9036-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10640-006-9036-9

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