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dc.titleFighting Global Warming: Is Trade Policy in Latin America and the Caribbean a Help or a Hindrance?
dc.contributor.authorDolabella, Marcelo
dc.contributor.authorMesquita Moreira, Mauricio
dc.contributor.orgunitProductivity, Trade and Innovation Sector
dc.coverageLatin America and the Caribbean
dc.date.available2022-08-24T00:08:00
dc.date.issue2022-08-24T00:08:00
dc.description.abstractThe dire prospects of global warming have been increasing the pressure on policymakers to use trade policy as a mitigation tool, challenging trade economists canonical “targeting principle.” Even though the justifications for this stance remain as valid as ever, it no longer seems feasible in a world that is already engaging actively in using trade policy for climate purposes. However, the search for second-best solutions remains warranted. In this paper, we focus on the climate benefits of tariff reform for a broad sample of Latin American and Caribbean countries, drawing on Shapiros (2021) insights about the environmental bias of trade policy. Using a partial equilibrium approach and GTAP 10-MRIO data for 2014, we show that even though there is evidence of a negative bias toward “dirty goods” in half of the countries studied, translating this into actionable tariff reforms is plagued by interpretation and implementation difficulties, as well as by jurisdictional and efficiency trade-offs. There are also questions about their efficacy in curbing greenhouse gas emissions.
dc.format.extent36
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0004426
dc.identifier.urlhttps://publications.iadb.org/publications/english/document/Fighting-Global-Warming-Is-Trade-Policy-in-Latin-America-and-the-Caribbean-a-Help-or-a-Hindrance.pdf
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherInter-American Development Bank
dc.subjectIntegration and Trade
dc.subjectGlobal Warming Politics
dc.subjectTariff System
dc.subjectClimate Change
dc.subjectPolicy Making
dc.subjectTrade Policy
dc.subjectTrade Impact
dc.subjectMode of Transport
dc.subjectGreenhouse Gas Emission
dc.subject.jelcodeF13 - Trade Policy • International Trade Organizations
dc.subject.jelcodeF14 - Empirical Studies of Trade
dc.subject.jelcodeF18 - Trade and Environment
dc.subject.jelcodeH23 - Externalities • Redistributive Effects • Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
dc.subject.jelcodeQ56 - Environment and Development • Environment and Trade • Sustainability • Environmental Accounts and Accounting • Environmental Equity • Population Growth
dc.subject.keywordsInternational trade;Latin America and the Caribbean;Latin America andthe Caribbean
idb.identifier.pubnumberIDB-WP-01378
idb.operationRG-E1680
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