한중일 3국간 상호무역에 의한 환경오염 배출 전가효과 분석

Analysis on Transmission Effect of Pollution Emissions Resulting from Bilateral International Trade between Korea, China and Japan

Globalization is generally considered one of the main sources of economic growth. Accordingly, it leads to variations in environmental pollution across national boundaries. The aim of this paper is to verify the transmission effect of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions resulting from bilateral international trade between Korea, China and Japan. Empirical evidence reveals that Korea has successfully reduced its pollution emissions through international trade with China and Japan. Japan too has mitigated pollution emissions through international trade with Korea and China. The pollution emissions, however, have sharply increased in China due to the international trade with Korea and Japan. As far as total exports and imports are concerned, the pollution emissions have increased in Korea and China, but not in Japan. It suggests that the pollution emissions due to international trade are well managed by Japan. As for China, the imports seem to be utilized as intermediate goods for production purposes, causing an increase in environmental pollution. Furthermore, unlike Korea and Japan, the total volume of CO2 emissions has decreased in China. This indicates that the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) is expected to converge to its stable position in China.