Trade Liberalization and the Environment in Vietnam
31 Pages Posted: 9 Oct 2006
Date Written: April 13, 2006
Abstract
Vietnam's integration with the international economy has increased significantly over the past decade, aided by substantial liberalization of trade, and appears set to increase further as trade-expanding measures take full effect. This dramatic shift in Vietnam's trading patterns has important implications for the environment and use of natural resources. This paper offers a systematic analysis of the trading and investment patterns to give a broader understanding of the environmental implications of greater openness of the economy during the past decade. The results suggest increasing manufacturing and export activity in water and toxic pollution-intensive sectors compared with the less pollution-intensive sectors. The story is, on the surface, consistent with the changing composition of Vietnamese production and exports away from traditional sectors and toward pollution-intensive manufacturing (especially leather and textiles). The paper also highlights the need to consider strengthening environmental policies while further trade liberalization is being contemplated through Vietnam's joining of the World Trade Organization.
Keywords: Economic Theory & Research, Environmental Economics & Policies, Water and Industry, Free Trade, Green Issues
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?
Recommended Papers
-
Trade, Growth and the Environment
By Brian R. Copeland and M. Scott Taylor
-
Trade, Spatial Separation, and the Environment
By Brian R. Copeland and M. Scott Taylor
-
Unmasking the Pollution Haven Effect
By Arik Levinson and M. Scott Taylor
-
International Trade and the Environment: A Framework for Analysis
By Brian R. Copeland and M. Scott Taylor
-
Moving to Greener Pastures? Multinationals and the Pollution Haven Hypothesis
-
Moving to Greener Pastures? Multinationals and the Pollution-Haven Hypothesis
-
Is Environmental Policy a Secondary Trade Barrier? An Empirical Analysis
By Josh Ederington and Jenny Minier
-
A Simple Model of Trade, Capital Mobility, and the Environment
By Brian R. Copeland and M. Scott Taylor
-
Is Trade Good or Bad for the Environment? Sorting Out the Causality