Dirty Industries Research Articles

Trade Liberalization and its Environmental Impact in India: An Empirical Analysis

The debate on the impact of trade on environment is pertinent considering the increasing volume of trade among world nations and the changes in environmental quality. In India, this increase was higher because of the gradual lifting of the quantitative restrictions and reduction in tariffs after trade liberalization in 1991. The pollution haven effect occurs when trade liberalization, coupled with lax environmental regulations results in increasing economic activities in pollution intensive industries. Using industry level data for the period 1998-2008, for fifty eight manufacturing industries in India, this paper looks at output and export trends and attempts to examine, whether trade liberalization is associated with a shift in production and exportation towards pollution intensive goods industries (pollution haven effect). Manufacturing output has been significantly higher from the water pollution intensive sectors compared to the air and toxic pollution intensive sectors. This evidence provides some support for concerns that there is significant contribution in production of manufacturing industries from dirty industries. The results of the study suggest that while trade liberalization measures have been pursued to promote economic growth in India but they have led to some potentially adverse environmental consequences.

Zn–Al–CO3 layered double hydroxides prepared from a waste of hot-dip galvanizing process

Hot-dip galvanizing process is used worldwide to protect the steel or iron pieces from corrosion. This process is a large generator of waste, considered one of the so-called dirty industries. One of the important wastes, in terms of quantity, is zinc ash that contains a mixture of metallic zinc and zinc oxide with a total content of zinc between 70 and 90%. The aim of this study is the preparation and characterization of a series of Zn R –Al–CO3 (R = 2–4) layered double hydroxides (LDH) by using as zinc precursor the zinc chloride obtained after hydrochloric acid leaching of fine-grained zinc ash. Results presented herein clearly demonstrated that characteristics of the synthesized samples are close to those of similar materials synthesized starting from analytical grade reagents. At the same time, it was observed that impurities existent in the zinc chloride solution prepared by zinc ash leaching (Pb, Fe, Ca), are found at traces in the synthesized LDH materials; therefore, they have no significant influence on the obtained LDH structure and properties. By this approach, several important benefits may be simultaneously achieved: (1) preventing the pollution associated with hot-dip galvanizing process wastes, (2) obtaining of valuable products with minimized costs, keeping in mind that LDH have multiple utilizations at industrial scale, (3) saving energy and material costs, and (4) increase of product competitiveness with respect to the circular economy.

Financial Development and Industrial Pollution

We study the impact of financial market development on industrial pollution in a large panel of countries and industries over the period 1974-2013. We find a strong positive impact of credit markets, but a strong negative impact of stock markets, on aggregate CO2 emissions per capita. Industry-level analysis shows that stock market development (but not credit market development) is associated with cleaner production processes in technologically dirty industries. These industries also produce more green patents as stock markets develop. Moreover, our results suggest that stock markets (credit markets) reallocate investment towards more (less) carbon-efficient sectors. Together, these findings indicate that the evolution of a country's financial structure helps explain the non-linear relationship between economic development and environmental quality documented in the literature.

Are the Central East European Countries Pollution Havens?

The aim of this article is to investigate the relationship between environmental stringency and intra–European Union (EU) trade flows. Two main hypotheses are tested. First, we test whether the stringency of a country's environmental regulations may result in pollution havens. Second, we test whether the results differ by industry and by the EU membership tenure (EU-15 vs. the newly added Central East European Countries). An augmented gravity model is estimated using panel data for 21 countries during the period from 1999 to 2013 for the full sample and also separately for the Central East European Countries and the EU-15 members. Our results show weak support for the pollution haven hypothesis for some dirty industries, mainly for net exports from western EU countries to the rest. Instead, support for the “Porter hypothesis” is found for trade in clean goods.

Dirty industries’ competitiveness in EU’s new members

Purpose – Despite the success in achieving the objectives for the use of renewable energy sources, the EU’s competitiveness is not at the desired level. In particular, the largest decreases in fossil-type energy intensity were observed in last 13 members of EU, namely, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. The purpose of this paper is to trace how these countries protect the competitiveness of their dirty (energy-intensive) industries. Design/methodology/approach – The study employs revealed comparative advantage (RCA) indices to measure the comparative advantage (CA) of EU-13 in dirty industries for the period 1995-2014 and assesses these indices in the framework of EU’s climate policy. Findings – Some policies which make industries to adapt EU’s 20-20-20 targets are forcing industries. In order to compete, these industries are leaving Europe and looking elsewhere. In this study the authors found that, particularly chemicals and non-metallic mineral manufactures resulted in a weakening of their CA over the years in some of these members. Similarly it is found that the RCA indices of iron and steel and non-ferrous metals are decreasing. Originality/value – The study addresses the EU-13’s position in terms of their competitiveness and find the connection with the EU’s climate policy through their RCAs of dirty industries.

On the Nexus Between Fiscal Policies and Sustainable Development

AbstractThis paper hypothesizes that fiscal policy is one important factor determining whether or not environmentally and socially sustainable economic growth is possible. We postulate that tax policies affect the incentives to make the economy more or less dependent on natural resources and the environment as factors of production. So‐called pro‐growth tax policies consisting of a low tax burden, low direct taxes but high indirect ones, affect the composition of factor endowment, often inducing overinvestment in physical capital and underinvestment in human capital, including education and health. These policies in part explain a structure of production heavily dependent on natural‐resource‐based and environmentally dirty industries. Moreover, these tax policies induce high levels of inequality, which ultimately may render economic growth socially and politically unsustainable. This analysis has important implications for Chile and for other developing countries, especially in Latin America, which are highly dependent on natural resources and have highly unequal income distributions. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

The Impact of Environmental Policy Stringency on Industrial R&D Conditional on Pollution Intensity and Relocation Costs

Stringent environmental regulations may encourage industrial innovation, as technological advancements lower the cost of pollution abatement (Popp et al. in Handbook of the economics of innovation, vol II. Academic Press, Burlington, pp 873–938, 2010). The pollution-havens hypothesis, on the other hand, indicates that, rather than innovating, dirty industries may relocate to countries with less stringent environmental regulations (Copeland and Taylor in J Econ Lit 42(1):7–71, 2004). Thus, more stringent environmental regulations may increase or decrease innovative activities. This paper examines empirically the impact of environmental regulations on R&D intensities and R&D expenditures in 21 manufacturing industries in 28 OECD countries from 2000 to 2007. I consider pollution intensity and the relative ease of relocation (immobility) as industry characteristics that determine the optimal industry response to increased environmental policy stringency. I find that more pollution intensive industries innovate less as regulatory environments become more restrictive relative to less pollution intensive industries. At the same time, more immobile industries innovate more than more mobile industries as environmental regulations become more stringent, illustrating innovation as an alternative to relocation.

Entry and Exit Patterns of “Toxic” Firms

AbstractWe pair an establishment‐level dataset from Texas with public information available in the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) to evaluate the standing of dirty industries in Texas census tracts with a focus on environmental justice concerns. The share of nonwhite residents in a tract is positively correlated with the number of TRI‐reporting firms, and an inverse‐U‐shaped relationship characterizes the number of TRI‐reporting firms and a tract's median income. Even after controlling for factor prices and other covariates that might drive firm location decisions, entrants that report to the TRI are more likely to locate in areas with a higher share of nonwhite residents. Firms that report to the TRI are also more likely to enter areas with a low share of college graduates. In contrast, the number of entrants from industries that do not have TRI reporters is negatively related to the percentage of nonwhite residents in a tract. Firms in these non‐reporting industries are also more likely to enter areas with a high share of college graduates. Polluters appear to agglomerate, raising concerns about both chemical releases being concentrated in certain tracts, and also affecting nonwhite‐dense areas disproportionately. The strength of these effects often depend on an urban/rural classification, with rural areas experiencing the most pronounced concerns. Moreover, TRI‐reporting firms are less likely to exit the market relative to their peers that operate in the same industry but do not need to file TRI reports, suggesting that releases may affect a region in the long run.

Desarrollo, Medio Ambiente y Salud

Abstract: Productive forces and capitalist production relationships have expanded worldly. This is seen in the accumulation of capital and industrialization in Asia and Latin America, which involves a process of urbanization, a fall of rural population and proletarianization of the work force. This accumulation of capital has produced an accumulation of carbon dioxide exceeding the bearable minimum for life sustainability. It also has an influence on wealth distribution; inequality which has remained stable over the last decades. The effects of this environmental damage and inequality have an impact on the population´s health. This work investigates about the dichotomy wealth - development which reflects the degree of inequality in contemporary societies and, on the other side, analyzes the effects of air and water pollution on human health. Descriptive and correlational study with cross sectional retrospective design. Results obtained show there is a strong association between growth and development. As wealth increases, the association rate decreases. Human development indicators show that, in developing countries, the most negative component is the inequality in wealth distribution. Growth and pollution are strongly associated by the use of fossil energy. The rate of change towards sustainable production systems in developed countries is very slow, whereas developing countries have become strong issuers of contaminating emissions. The business ethics ruling the system is still based on a rational and selfish being, dissociated from social aspects and the environment. There are exports of dirty industries from developed countries to developing ones. The group of underdeveloped countries makes evident some “apparently sustainable” conducts, since it uses biomass depredated from forests, doing away with sources of energy based on firewood and coal. Water polluting agents and the lack of sewerages systems are accountable for children mortality associated with diarrhea, malaria and others. The consequences on health are suffered by underdeveloped countries due to the lack of economic resources. Then we find developing countries, and in the last place developed countries which seem to minimally suffer the consequences of mortality in their population due to polluting agents.

Environmental Policy and Market Structure: A Case of Asymmetric Firms

This study seeks to analyze the impact of governmental regulations on the pollution level in a duopoly framework with endogenous market structure. We consider a dirty industry which involves two asymmetric firms, an MNC and a domestic firm, producing a homogenous product, where the MNC is so efficient that in the absence of a joint venture the MNC firm will act as a monopolist. We use a game theoretic framework to demonstrate that an increase in abatement cost, arising out of stricter government regulations, could trigger a regime-switch from monopoly to joint venture (or from joint venture to monopoly), and consequently may increase pollution. Turning to the welfare analysis, we find that the constrained first best outcome always involves joint venture formation. Given a market structure, we find that the optimal emission tax is always less than the marginal social damage. We then demonstrate that if the synergistic effect (SE) is large and the industry is neither very dirty, nor very clean, then the constrained first best outcome can be implemented by setting the abatement tax appropriately. Otherwise the constrained first best outcome cannot be implemented.

How green is my industry? The case of Turkey

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to give a good overview of the relationship between industrial growth and industrial pollution in Turkey. The question is to what extent dirty industries have been affected by the regulations on the control of environmental degradation. Design/methodology/approach – The approach for this study uses all regulations which serve for protecting human and its environment from danger arising from dirty industries in Turkey. After presenting brief explanations on green industry, next sessions explain and compare the situations of the Turkish dirty industries and its relationship with related regulations in the European Union (EU). Findings – The authors offer three solutions. First, clean consumption should be stimulated in Turkish society. Second, Turkish Government should conduct more joint projects with the EU. Third, EU funds should be directed to cleaner production technologies to subsidize dirty industries during the negotiation process. Originality/value – Green industry can be assessed as a steep road to build a sustainable future. For a long time, the unsustainability of current forms of industrial production has been discussed in Turkey. As a solution some argue that if governments support, industries can finance their own transformation more rapidly. However, these arguments do not mean that industries voluntarily accept these changes.

Nutrient removal capacity of wood residues for the Agro-environmental safety of ground and surface waters

Abstract The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of wood residues in the removal of nutrients (ammonium-N; NH4-N) from nutrient-rich (NH4-N) waters. The water holding capacity of the wood materials was also determined. Carried out at Rothamsted Research, North Wyke, UK, this controlled laboratory experiment tested two wood residues; in length, one being 1-2cm and the other from 150 µm (microns) to 9.5mm. Although a wide range of studies have shown the effectiveness and performance of various absorbent materials as animal beddings, such as straw (cereal straw), woodchip (sawdust, bark or wood shavings), bracken and rushes, only few have focused on the NH4-N sorption/desorption capacity. The depuration capacity of wood residues from nutrient-rich effluents such as those from cattle bedded on woodchip or straw will be controlled by processes such as sorption (adsorption-absorption) and desorption of nutrients. Studies have reported the nitrogen removal capacity of woodchip materials and biochar from woodchip as well as removal of NH4+-N from domestic and municipal wastewater, farm dirty water, landfill and industry effluents. These studies have observed that the mechanism of removal of nitrogen is by either increasing NO3--N removal form leachate by enhancing N2O losses via denitrification (biochar as carbon source for denitrifiers) or by decreasing NH4+-N in leachate through adsorption to negatively charged sites. Results showed that although the cation exchange capacity (CEC) and surface area (SA) are both fundamental properties of adsorbent materials, no correlation was found with CEC and adsorption or desorption. Nor did changes in pH appear to be sufficiently important to cause changes in CEC. For this reason, osmotic pressure appeared to be a more predominant parameter controlling processes of adsorption and desorption of NH4+-N in both wood residues. Thus, wood residues high in NH4+-N should be avoided, as they could have an opposite effect in the adsorption of nutrients from nutrient-rich effluents. The results also showed that some wood residues (G30) had great capacity to adsorb NH4+-N to levels up to nearly 90% whilst demonstrating low desorption capacity of NH4+-N (less than 1%). These are ideal relevant features for an adsorbent material for the removal of nutrients (or heavy metals) from contaminated waters such us farm o industrial effluents, or for the depuration of eutrophic watercourses. This could help reduce the concentration of farm effluents making them more manageable, subsequently contributing towards the compliance of new environmental regulations. Keywords: nutrients, nitrogen, ground and surface water

(Un)seeing like a prison: Counter-visual ethnography of the carceral state

While prisons proliferate in the rural landscape and sites of penal tourism expand, the carceral state structures the available visual and analytic vantages through which to perceive this growing visibility. Using examples from fieldwork in Kentucky, including Appalachian prison communities and a site of penal tourism, this article proposes ‘counter-visual’ ethnography to better perceive the ideological work that the carceral state performs in the spatial and cultural landscape. A counter-visual ethnography retrains our eyes to see that which is not ‘there’ but which structures the contemporary empirical realities we observe, record, and analyze: the ghosts of racialized regimes past, the sediment of dirty industry that seeps into and imbues the present, and the trans-historical and trans-local circulation of carceral logics and epistemologies. In addition, this article suggests the important role images play in shaping alternative vantages from which to better perceive the carceral state with historical, spatial, and political acuity.

Is India Specialising in Polluting Industries? Evidence from US‐India Bilateral Trade

AbstractRecently, the apex environmental agency of India observed that domestic industrial pollution has been increasing at an alarming rate over the last two decades, and the need to rein in traditional polluting industries. This raises the pertinent question of whether the poor domestic pollution regime has affected the pattern of India's trade in dirty manufactured products in the post‐liberalisation era since 1991. We find that on the whole, India has remained a net importer of pollution‐intensive manufactured goods; however, there is a distinct trend of increasing specialisation in specific dirty industries especially in the bilateral trade with high‐income countries, and to a lesser degree with low‐income countries. The USA being India's single largest country trading partner in the post‐liberalisation era, we test for pollution offshoring at the finer industry level in US‐India bilateral trade. While we find that the pollution haven effect is not significant, India's specialisation in certain dirty manufacturing industries through the last decade remains a disturbing trend. India needs to integrate environmental sustainability within industrial growth urgently, and it is pertinent to implement policies which would reflect the true pollution costs in an industry that is increasingly competing in the international market.

The Promise of Jobs: Blackmail and Environmental Justice in Flint, Michigan, 1991–1995

Abstract In the early 1990s, Flint, Michigan residents faced an uncertain future as urban decay, rising rates of unemployment, and factory closures threatened their livelihoods. Political and business elites proposed siting dirty industries like the Genesee Power woodwaste incinerator in an overwhelmingly-poor and African American section of the city to encourage employment and economic growth. Despite the lofty, and often unfounded, promises of these elites, ordinary residents organized to resist the siting of the incinerator, citing the health threats that would compound the already-dangerous levels of environmental hazards in which they resided, decried the lack of public participation in the decision making, and pointed out what they saw as the clear targeting of their neighborhood because of their race and class status. Residents and their allies, including the St. Francis Prayer Center and the NAACP-Flint chapter attempted to work through the Environmental Protection Agency to shut down the incinera...

EVIDENCE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL KUZNETS CURVE: IMPLICATIONS OF INDUSTRIAL TRADE DATA

This study examines the dynamic relationship between CO2 emissions and economic growth in Malaysia for the period of 1980-2004. The evidence of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) is tested by including energy consumption, dirty export from Malaysia to China and dirty import from China to Malaysia based on the two and three-digit ISIC data which reflect pollution-intensive manufacturing. Using dirty industries for the period of 1980-2004, the existence of Pollution Haven Hypothesis (PHH) was tested by employing ARDL approach of cointegration and the Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS). Six out of eight dirty industries are found to show statistically significant inverted U-shaped relationship between CO2 emissions and economic growth, thus the EKC. Export from industries such as textile, wearing apparel and leather, manufacture of fabricated metal products and electrical machinery significantly increase CO2 emissions in Malaysia. Most of the import coefficients are significant and positively related to CO2 emissions, which is in contrast to the PHH. This strongly rejects the PHH for CO2 emissions in Malaysia-China trade. There is no evidence that domestic production of pollution-intensive goods in Malaysia is being replaced by imports from China. Based on the analysis, Malaysia-China bilateral trade increases CO2 emissions in Malaysia. There is therefore urgent need that electricity generation in Malaysia is from clean and sustainable sources. There have been efforts by the Malaysian government towards achieving this objective through its many related policies introduced since the beginning of this new millennium.

Utilization of Biomass at the Recycling of Heavy Metal Containing Wastes

Metal production and recycling industries are typically characterized by a high demand on energy. Besides this, in the reduction processes necessary in metallurgy, high amounts of reducing agents are also used in this field of the industry. Normally this high demand on carbon is covered by fossil carbonaceous materials, which results in high amounts of greenhouse gas emissions, which in turn enhance global warming. For that reason, companies are being forced by environmental legislation to reduce their carbon footprint. Therefore, one option would be the substitution of fossil based materials with carbon-neutral alternatives. In order to describe some approaches, two options for the utilization of reducing agents based on biomass in heavy metal recycling processes are described in this paper. For that reason biomasses from agriculture like different tree cuttings were converted into metallurgical charcoal by means of a special carbonization reactor. With these charcoals electric arc furnace dust (EAFD) was reduced and recycled in a lab-scale rotary kiln. Furthermore, the by-product of the carbonization process—the pyrolysis gas—was used for the treatment of Waelz slag in a retort process. In both cases, nearly the entire zinc contained in the residue (EAFD and Waelz slag) could be recovered by means of alternative reducing agents. In the retort process also the iron in the remaining slag could be highly metalized. With such a replacement of fossil materials, the CO2 emissions from current dirty industry sectors such as heavy metal recycling can be dramatically reduced. This could lead special industries to be pioneers in matters of environmental protection.

How does environmental performance affect financial performance? Evidence from Japanese manufacturing firms

This paper examines the effects of environmental performance on financial performance using the data of Japanese manufacturing firms from 2004 to 2008. As the environmental performance, our study considers the two different environmental issues of waste and greenhouse gas emissions in capturing the effects of corporate environmental management on financial performance. In addition, to clarify how each financial performance responds to a firm's effort in dealing with different environmental issues, we utilize many financial performance indices reflecting various market evaluations. Our estimation results show the different effects of each environmental performance on financial performance. Waste emissions do not generally have significant effects on financial performance. On the other hand, greenhouse gas reduction leads to an increase in financial performance in the whole sample and clean industries, although it does not have significant effects on financial performance in dirty industries. Furthermore, as the firm growth rate increases, the partial effects of waste emissions on financial performance decrease, whereas the partial effects of greenhouse gas emissions on financial performance increase.

India’s Urban Renewal Mission and Integration of an Informal Economy with the Globalization Process: A Paradigm Shift from Hawker Economy to Indigo Economy

Globalization and the climate change issue have divided the world economy into two broad categories - namely 'green' and 'indigo' economies. The developed economies of the North, which are increasingly using cleaner technology to minimize pollution and are relocating dirty industries to less developed countries, are becoming 'green' at the expense of the developing economies of the South, which are gradually turning 'indigo' by absorbing growing amount of industrial pollutants (including nuclear radiation). In the name of development, a variety of programs have been taken up, in recent past, at various sphere to accelerate the integration of local informal economic activities with the globalized economy. National Urban Renewal Mission, launched by the Indian government, is one such program. This paper analyzes different secondary data to understand the dynamics of this sweeping integration process and explores a holistic schematic structure that explains this paradigm shift to an alien unsustainable economic model.

Impacts of the globalized economy on the environment: the tanning industry in the Vale do Rio dos Sinos

This case study analysed the impact of the global economy on the environment of the Vale do Rio do Sinos region in southern Brazil. Interviews and questionnaires were used to collect data from social, cultural, economic and political agents in this region, and documents about the tanning industry were reviewed and analysed. Global perspectives and local conditions were brought together to understand the causes and consequences of social, political and economic structures and to evaluate the intrinsic association of the tanning industry with the social, historical and cultural development of the Vale do Rio dos Sinos. The behaviour of the local community, where individuals believe that progress is primordially based on industrial development and go to any lengths to achieve it, was also studied. The analysis of industries that have a high contamination potential revealed that dirty industries moved from central to peripheral countries up to the 1980s, but movement is currently internal and occurs between states in Brazil due to several types of incentives.