My recent work has focused largely on trade and environment issues in developing countries. In a series of empirical studies using Chinese data, I’ve been exploring the possibility that trade growth may be beneficial for the environment, that foreign investors may create pollution havens in poor countries, and, most recently, that foreign investment and production fragmentation may have beneficial effects on the environment. In other work on fragmentation, I’ve been studying the variation in vertical specialization in Chinese trade. I also continue my work on trade restrictions and economic development, with a new focus on NTBs and on trade preference erosion.
Recent Publications
Measuring Vertical Specialization: the Case of China (with K C. Fung and Zhi Wang), Review of International Economics (2011)
The explosive growth of Chinese trade may be due to international production fragmentation, but few...
Trade Growth, Production Fragmentation and China's Environment (with Mary E. Lovely), China's Growing Role in World Trade (2010)
In recent years, China has experienced both rapidly growing trade and serious environmental degradation. The...
Decomposing China–Japan–U.S. trade: Vertical specialization, ownership, and organizational form (with Mary E. Lovely and Jesse Mora), Journal of Asian Economics (2009)
We use the US International Trade Commission's uniquely detailed 1995–2007 Chinese Customs data to better...
Are Foreign Investors Attracted to Weak Environmental Regulations? Evaluating the Evidence from China (with Mary E. Lovely and Hua Wang), Journal of Development Economics (2009)
At the center of the pollution haven debate is the claim that foreign investors from...
Quantifying the Value of US Tariff Preferences for Developing Countries (with John Wainio), Trade Preference Erosion: Measurement and Response (2009)
In recent debates, trade preference erosion has been viewed by some as damaging to developing...
Recent Working Papers
Is Trade Preference Erosion Bad for Development?, USITC Office of Economics Working Papers (2006)
In much of the recent debate about trade preference erosion, opponents have stressed the impact...