This dissertation consists of three chapters examining the relationship between international trade and environmental quality. The first chapter employs a Computable General Equilibrium model to analyze the impact of trade liberalization on pollution generated by consumption. The results indicate that pollution from production and consumption respond in opposite ways to trade liberalization. Environmental policy can be equally effective in controlling emissions from either source. The second chapter employs a theoretical model and a unique dataset to examine the impact of export status and import competition on plant level toxic pollution releases. A heterogeneous firm model indicates that exporters should pollute less than non-exporters per unit of output and that import competition drives heavily polluting plants out of business. These theoretical results are consistent with empirical results using plant characteristic and emissions data for over12,000 plants in U.S. manufacturing industries observed over 15 years. The final chapter employs the same dataset to examine the response of polluting plants to environmental regulation and the impact of that regulation on international trade flows. Polluters respond at the intensive margin (plant-level emissions) more strongly than the extensive margin (plant-location decisions). Exporters are not strongly impacted by these regulations due to productivity advantages meaning the regulations have little impact on trade flows.
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