@techreport{NBERw18337, title = "Sources of Comparative Advantage in Polluting Industries", author = "Fernando Broner and Paula Bustos and Vasco M. Carvalho", institution = "National Bureau of Economic Research", type = "Working Paper", series = "Working Paper Series", number = "18337", year = "2012", month = "August", URL = "http://www.nber.org/papers/w18337", abstract = {We study the determinants of comparative advantage in polluting industries. We combine data on environmental policy at the country level with data on pollution intensity at the industry level to show that countries with laxer environmental regulation have a comparative advantage in polluting industries. Further, we address the potential problem of reverse causality. We propose an instrument for environmental regulation based on meteorological determinants of pollution dispersion identiĀ…ed by the atmospheric pollution literature. We find that the effect of environmental regulation on the pattern of trade is causal and comparable in magnitude to the effect of physical and human capital.}, }