Matthew Cole

• Professor at University of Birmingham

This paper examines the impact of foetal exposure to air pollution from agricultural fires on Brazilian students' cognitive performance later in life. We rely on comparisons across children who were upwind and downwind of the fires while in utero to address concerns around sorting and temporary income shocks. Our findings show that agricultural fir...

We apply a two-step data driven approach to determine the causal impact of the clean air zone (CAZ) policy on air quality in Birmingham, UK. Levels of NO2, NOx and PM2.5 before and after CAZ implementation were collected from automatic air quality monitoring sites both within and outside the CAZ. We apply a unique combination of two recent methods:...

Industrialized countries have increasingly used skill-based selective migration policies to reduce labor and skill shortages. But are these policies effective? This paper uses Japan and the United Kingdom to illustrate how immigration policy and employment, training and labor practices influence labor and skill supply. Until recently, these two cou...

Heating is a major source of air pollution. To improve air quality, a range of clean heating polices were implemented in China over the past decade. Here, we evaluated the impacts of winter heating and clean heating polices on air quality in China using a novel, observation-based causal inference approach. During 2015-2021, winter heating causally...

Focusing on Japan over the period 1988–2013, this paper provides the first test of the extent to which pollution offshoring has occurred for this major industrial economy. In so doing, we identify whether the composition of domestic production, imports, overall trade patterns and overseas outsourcing has become more or less pollution intensive. We...

In light of the existing preliminary evidence of a link between Covid-19 and poor air quality, which is largely based upon correlations, we estimate the relationship between long term air pollution exposure and Covid-19 in 355 municipalities in the Netherlands. Using detailed data we find compelling evidence of a positive relationship between air p...

We quantify the impact of the Wuhan Covid-19 lockdown on concentrations of four air pollutants using a two-step approach. First, we use machine learning to remove the confounding effects of weather conditions on pollution concentrations. Second, we use a new augmented synthetic control method (Ben-Michael et al. in The augmented synthetic control m...

Benford’s Law suggests that the first digits of numerical data are heavily skewed towards low numbers. Data that fail to conform to Benford’s Law when conformity is to be expected may have been manipulated. Using Benford’s Law, we conduct digital frequency analysis on the emission reduction claims of Clean Development Mechanism projects. Digital fr...

We document the recent reductions in the pollution intensity of Chinese manufacturing and utilise the methods developed and applied by Levinson (2009, 2015) and Brunel (2017) to explain the underlying causes of this pollution clean-up. We find that, unlike in the US, compositional changes to the Chinese manufacturing sector have actually increased...

In this paper we use the 1995 Kobe earthquake as a natural experiment to examine the impact of a large exogenous physical shock on local economic activity. For the first time we are able to control for local spatial heterogeneity in the damage caused by a natural disaster using geo-coded plant location and unique building-level surveys. In a surviv...

In this paper we assess the extent to which power outages affect the sales of firms across different African economies. We address the potential endogeneity concerns endemic in much of the existing literature by constructing an instrument for power outages based on the varying share of electricity produced by hydro-power as a result of variation in...

We review the literature that investigates the relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) and the environment. After reviewing the theoretical literature, we discuss two broad strands of research. First, the impact of environmental regulations on the choice of plant location and second, the impact of FDI on the emissions of various pollut...

In this paper we examine the extent to which pre-disaster planning and post-disaster aid can help firms recover from the negative impact of a natural disaster. Using detailed plant-level data covering the areas affected by the March 2011 Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami we find that the number of stopped days of operation was negatively impa...

In the light of climate uncertainty and growing concern for the natural environment, an increasingly important aspect of global business is the environmental behaviour of firms. In this paper we consider the factors that influence firms' environmental actions (EAs). Our study of Argentinean firms concentrates on measures of environmental spillovers...

In recent years there has been a dramatic increase in the number of firms shifting stages of their production processes overseas. In this paper we investigate whether firms outsource the dirtier stages of production to minimise domestic environmental regulation costs-a process broadly consistent with the pollution haven hypothesis. We develop a the...

This paper examines the role played by community characteristics in influencing local exposure to toxic releases, focusing specifically on ethnic fractionalization and polarisation. In contrast to the previous literature, this study argues that it is the fractionalization and/or polarisation of ethnic groups that is the relevant consideration, rath...

In order to gain a greater understanding of firms' 'environmental behaviour' this paper explores the factors that influence firms' emissions intensities and provides the first analysis of the determinants of firm level carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Focussing on Japan, the paper also examines whether firms' CO2 emissions are influenced by the emis...

In response to equity concerns surrounding the spatial distribution of CO2 emissions and assumptions of CO2 convergence within some climate models, this paper examines the convergence of CO2 emissions within the OECD over the period 1870–2004. More specifically, using the Local Whittle estimator and its variants we examine whether relative per capi...

This paper contributes to the small but growing body of literature which tries to explain why, despite the predictions of some theoretical studies, empirical support for the pollution haven hypothesis remains limited. We break from the previous literature, which tends to concentrate on US trade patterns, and focus on Japan. In common with Ederingto...

A number of studies have tested whether, globally, per capita incomes are converging over time. To date, the majority of studies find no evidence of absolute convergence, but many find evidence of conditional convergence, i.e. convergence having controlled for differences in technological and behavioural parameters. The lack of evidence of absolute...

This paper investigates the relationship between firm heterogeneity and a firm’s decision to export, using the annual survey of Thai manufacturing firms from 2001 to 2004. A significant contribution of this paper is that we are, for the first time, able to break down FDI by country of origin to observe whether the behaviour of MNEs differs by regio...

This paper examines the role played by community characteristics in influencing local environmental quality, focusing specifically on ethnic diversity. In contrast to the previous literature, this study argues that it is the fractionalization and/or polarization of ethnic groups that is the relevant consideration, rather than the population share o...

In recent years there has been a dramatic increase in the number of firms shifting stages of their production processes overseas. In this paper we investigate whether firms outsource the dirtier stages of production to minimise domestic environmental regulation costs - a process broadly consistent with the pollution haven hypothesis. We develop a t...

Within a compensating wage differential framework we investigate whether there is a wage premium for working in a pollution intensive industry. Our results for the economy as a whole suggest a small wage premium of approximately one quarter of one percent associated with the risk of working in a dirty job. This premium rises to over fifteen percent...

Corruption in the public sector erodes tax compliance and leads to higher tax evasion. Moreover, corrupt public officials abuse their public power to extort bribes from the private agents. In both types of interaction with the public sector, the private agents are bound to face uncertainty with respect to their disposable incomes. To analyse effect...

There is an extensive literature that examines the relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) and the productivity and competitiveness of domestic firms. Using estimation techniques from the productivity spillover literature, this paper tests for the presence of environmental spillovers from foreign firms. On the basis that foreign-owned...

A multiple-principal, multiple-agent lobby group model suggests that the effect of foreign direct investment (FDI) on environmental policies is conditional on the structure of host countries' political institutions such as the number of legislative units (veto players). The model also yields the novel concept of "aggregate honesty" which combines v...

In this paper we investigate the relationship between economic growth and industrial pollution emissions in China using data for 112 major cities between 2001 and 2004. Using disaggregated data we separate FDI inflows from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan from those of other foreign economies. We examine four industrial water pollution indicators (waste...

This paper investigates the relationship between firm heterogeneity and a firm’s decision to export, using the annual survey of Thai manufacturing firms from 2001 to 2004. A significant contribution of this paper is that we are, for the first time, able to break down FDI by country of origin to observe whether the behavior of MNEs differs by region...

Given China's rapid industrial expansion a detailed understanding of the linkages through which industrial activity affects the environment is crucial if the resultant environmental impact is to be minimised. This paper utilises a dataset of Chinese industry specific emissions for a variety of pollutants between 1997 and 2003 to provide the first s...

This paper revisits the time-series literature on the convergence of per capita carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and examines the robustness of previous results. Using a sample of OECD countries for the period 1950–2002 we employ a battery of stationarity and unit root tests including those that allow for cross-sectional dependencies within the panel...

This paper examines the relationship between firms' characteristics and their decision to participate in export markets, using the annual survey of manufacturing firms in Thailand during 2001 and 2004. The main highlight of this paper is that we emphasise the importance of financial variables as a proxy for sunk entry costs. We find that liquidity...

In this paper we extend the debate on the environmental implications of foreign direct investment in developing countries by examining a new mechanism through which foreign influence can affect the environmental performance of firms. We focus on the extent to which key workers who have had previous training or experience in a foreign owned firm tra...

In response to the recent growth of a largely theoretical body of literature analysing the linkages between corruption and pollution this paper subjects the corruption–pollution relationship to a detailed empirical examination. A distinction is drawn between the direct impact of corruption on pollution and the indirect impact which operates through...

This paper revisits the 'jobs versus the environment' debate and provides the first analysis for a country other than the US. We firstly examine the impact of environmental regulations on employment assuming such regulations are exogenous. However, for the first time in a study of this nature, we then allow environmental regulation costs and employ...

In this paper we search for pollution haven consistent evidence within China. Using a province level data set and three different measures of environmental stringency, we investigate whether inward foreign direct investment (FDI) is attracted to those regions with relatively low environmental regulations. Our results are consistent with pollution h...

This paper contrasts applications of both the contingent valuation (CV) and contingent ranking (CR) methods as applied to a common issue, the valuation of improvements to the water quality of an urban river (the River Tame, running through the city of Birmingham, UK). Building upon earlier experimental work, the CV design used ensures that responde...

Using Japanese firm-level data, we identify and quantify the factors that influence the environmental management of Japanese firms. We measure 14 different aspects of a firm's environmental management and investigate how firm-level characteristics and external pressures affect the quantity and effectiveness of environmental management systems and s...

This paper utilises the theoretical principles of Antweiler et al. [Antweiler, W. B.R. Copeland and M.S. Taylor (2001) Is Free Trade Good for the Environment? American Economic Review, 91, 4, pp. 877–908.] to estimate empirically the linkages between trade liberalization and energy use. Focusing on scale, technique and composition effects, results...

We suggest a novel perspective on the relationship between the stringency of environmental policies and foreign direct investment (FDI). We develop a political economy model with imperfect product market competition where local and foreign firms jointly lobby the local government for a favorable pollution tax. FDI is found to affect environmental p...

A number of recent studies have illustrated the link between health and economic growth. This paper argues that a key mechanism through which health affects growth is via total factor productivity (TFP). We first estimate TFP based on a production function and then estimate the determinants of TFP, paying particular attention to three indicators of...

This paper re-examines the pollution-income relationship using a random coefficients model to allow for greater cross-country heterogeneity. The existence of a common pollution-income relationship across countries is rejected and hence little support for the environmental Kuznets curve is found.

The global decline in trade barriers means that environmental regulations now potentially play an increasingly important role in shaping a country's comparative advantage. This raises the possibility that pollution intensive industries will relocate from high regulation countries to developing regions where environmental regulations may be less str...

This paper attempts to identify whether declining industrial pollution intensities in many European countries are a result of reductions in sectoral emissions intensities (i.e. the effects of regulations and technology) or changes to the product mix (e.g. the decline of heavy industries). This distinction is important since reductions in pollution...

This paper examines and quantifies the complex linkages between industrial activity, environmental regulations and air pollution. Couched in terms of the demand for, and the supply of, environmental services we utilize a new dataset of UK industry specific emissions for a variety of pollutants between 1990 and 1998. Our analysis allows us to invest...

In an increasingly integrated world, falling trade barriers mean that the role environmental regulations play in shaping a country's comparative advantage is greater than ever. This has lead to fears that "dirty" industries will relocate to developing regions where environmental regulations may be less stringent. A number of reasons have been offer...

Many have taken the policy implication of the so-called 'environmental Kuznets curve' (EKC) to be that poor countries can and perhaps should grow themselves out of environmental problems over time rather than tackling them with stricter regulation now. Many critics have argued, however, that the EKC suffers from severe methodological problems that...

The global decline in trade barriers means that environmental regulations now potentially play an increasingly important role in shaping a country's comparative advantage. This raises the possibility that pollution intensive industries will relocate from high regulation countries to developing regions where environmental regulations may be less str...

This paper examines and quantifies the complex linkages between industrial activity, environmental regulations and air pollution. Couched in terms of the demand for, and the supply of, environmental services we utilize a new dataset of UK industry specific emissions for a variety of pollutants between 1990 and 1998. Our analysis allows us to invest...

In this paper we argue that the burgeoning empirical debate over scope sensitivity within contingent valuation studies is fundamentally incomplete in that it has neglected a systematic examination of certain effects of study design upon observed scope sensitivity. In particular we highlight the fact that in certain study designs the choice set init...

In recent years the issue of global water scarcity has attracted increasing attention within academia, non-governmental organizations and the media. The aim of this short note is to ascertain whether there is a systematic relationship between water use and income, and particularly whether an inverted U-shaped relationship exists, as has been found...

In light of concerns that structural changes to US production may not be accompanied by similar changes to US consumption, this paper provides a detailed examination of US environmental load displacement over the period 1974–2001. The forces that drive such displacement are also examined, with particular attention paid to the scale and composition...

This paper examines the extent to which the EKC inverted U relationship can be explained by trade and specifically the migration or displacement of ‘dirty’ industries from the developed regions to the developing regions (the pollution haven hypothesis (PHH)). Using detailed data on North–South trade flows for pollution intensive products the eviden...

A number of recent studies have illustrated the link between health and growth (Gallup and Sachs 2000, McCarthy et al. 2000, Bhargava et al. 2000). This paper argues that a key mechanism through which health affects growth is via total factor productivity (TFP). We first estimate TFP based on a production function and then estimate the determinants...

This study adds to the emerging literature examining empirically the link between population size, other demographic factors and pollution. We contribute by using more robust estimation techniques and examine two air pollutants. By considering sulfur dioxide, we become the first study to explicitly examine the impact of demographic factors on a pol...

This paper provides a detailed examination of Bjorn Lomborg's controversial and highly publicised book The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World. The book examines a wide range of environmental and social issues and concludes that many of these problems are not as bad as the media and environmental organisations claim. T...

A number of studies have tested whether, globally, per capita incomes are converging over time. To date, the majority of studies find no evidence of absolute convergence, but many find evidence of conditional convergence, i.e. convergence having controlled for differences in technological and behavioural parameters. The lack of evidence of absolute...

This paper assesses the strength of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) which posits an inverted-U relationship between per capital income and pollution. Specifically, answers are sought to the following related questions: (1) How robust is the EKC relationship?; (2) To what extent can the EKC relationship be explained by changing trade patterns...

The relationship between trade liberalisation and the environment has been the subject of a growing body of literature in recent years. One particular focus of attention has been whether environmental regulations are influencing patterns of international trade. This paper aims to examine this issue in the context of the Heckscher-Ohlin-Vanek (HOV)...

This paper argues that pollution-intensive sectors may be subject to opposing forces of comparative advantage since these sectors are also typically capital intensive, yet regions with low environmental regulations tend to be those that are the least capital abundant. We examine therefore, whether compositional changes in pollution arising from tra...

A number of recent studies have illustrated the link between health and economic growth. This paper argues that a key mechanism through which health affects growth is via total factor productivity (TFP). We first estimate TFP based on a production function and then estimate the determinants of TFP, paying particular attention to three indicators of...

This paper examines the relationship between per capita income and a wide range of environmental indicators using cross-country panel sets. The manner in which this has been done overcomes several of the weaknesses asscociated with the estimation of environmental Kuznets curves (EKCs). outlined by Stern et al. (1996). Results suggest that meaningfu...

Through a combination of experimental and field analysis, we demonstrate that varying the visible choice set (i.e., set of goods which, at any given point in a valuation exercise, the respondent perceives as being the full extent of purchase options which will be made available in the course of that exercise) strongly affects observed scope. These...

This paper develops a methodology to estimate the environmental impact of the Uruguay Round trade agreement. The impact is estimated in terms of five air pollutants for both developed and developing countries/regions. The methodology estimates environmental Kuznets curves and uses these in conjunction with François et al.'s (1995) estimates of Urug...

This paper examines the impact on air pollution ofchanges in the composition of manufacturing output indeveloped and developing countries. Pollutionemissions from manufacturing output are estimated ina manner which holds constant the effect of technologyand regulations allowing the impact of compositional changes alone on pollution to beestimated....

In the developed world the cost of meeting environmental regulations appears to be rising over time. Since the stringency of such regulations increases with economic development there has been speculation that developing countries may possess a comparative advantage in pollution intensive production.

This paper assesses the strength of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) which posits an inverted-U relationship between per capita income and pollution, in the light of a number of recent criticisms.

The nature of the relationship between economic development and the environment has been discussed since the 1960s, yet opinion remains divided. This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the relationship between economic growth and environmental degradation and begins by reviewing the largely theoretical discussions from the 'limits to growth...

This paper examines the impact on air pollution of changes in the composition of manufacturing output in developed and developing countries.

This paper estimates the impact of the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations, in terms of three effects, on five air pollutants for a number of countries/ regions. The five pollutants are nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, suspended particulate matter and carbon dioxide. In this paper the scale and technique effect are combined into...

This thesis analyses and quantifies the environmental impacts of trade liberalisation and economic growth. The history and development of the GATT/WTO's treatment of the environment is considered, together with the environmental implications of trade liberalisation in general. The thesis then considers the relationship between economic growth and...

Using Argentinean firm-level data, we identify and quantify the factors that influence the environmental actions of Argentinean firms. We examine various aspects of a firm"s environmental actions (EAs), including the range of EAs adopted, the motives for such adoption and the obstacles that hinder EA adoption. In each case we investigate the role p...

Within a compensating wage differential framework we investigate whether there is a wage premium for working in a pollution intensive industry Our results for the economy as a whole suggest that there is a small wage premium of approximately one half of one percent associated with the risk of working in a dirty job. The premium rises to approximate...

This paper provides a detailed examination of Bjorn Lomborg's controversial and highly publicised book The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World. The book examines a wide range of environmental and social issues and concludes that many of these problems are not as bad as the media and environmental organisations claim. T...

This paper examines and quantifies the complex linkages between industrial activity, environmental regulations and air pollution in China. We utilize a little used dataset of Chinese industry specific emissions for a variety of pollutants between 1996 and 2003. Our analysis allows us to investigate the role played by different determinants of emiss...

This paper presents an empirical investigation of the spillovers from foreign direct investment (FDI) using a firm-level panel data from Thailand between 2001 and 2004. We examine export spillovers, both intra- and inter-industry. The evidence shows that FDI inflows into Thailand generate some positive externalities to domestic firms. Foreign firms...

ABSTRACT This paper,uses 5-year non-overlapping emissions growth equations for sulphur and carbon dioxide to estimate,the impact,of economic growth,on environmental,quality.,It is shown,that the,impact,of economic,growth,on emissions growth depends on the,level of income. Economic growth reduces emissions once a country reaches a certain level of i...