Subglobal Climate Agreements and Energy-Intensive Activities: Is there a Carbon Haven for Copper?
Author(s)
Lanz, Bruno, 1980-
Rutherford, Thomas Fox
Tilton, John E.
Date Issued
February 2011
Publisher
MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research
Series/Report no.
MIT-CEEPR;2011-003
Abstract
Subglobal climate policies induce changes in international competitiveness and favor a
relocation of carbon-emitting activities. We argue that many energy-intensive activities are
also capital-intensive, so that carbon policies could affect rents rather than abatement or
location. Taking copper as an example, we formulate a plant-level spatial equilibrium model
of the industry, and we estimate a set of elasticities to calibrate the behavioral parameters of
the model. Given 2007 market conditions, Monte Carlo simulations suggest that a $50/tCO2
tax in industrialized countries induces emissions reductions of less than one percent in the
copper industry, with a mean emission leakage rate of 25%. Our results conform with empirical
findings on the pollution haven effect but challenge projections from computable general
equilibrium models.
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