Foreign Acquisitions and Environmental Performance: From the Perspective of Pollution Offshoring

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Autores principales: Yong Geng, Xiaojian Xiang, Yiwen Tan
Formato: Artículo Open Access
Publicado: Wiley 2025
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author Yong Geng
Xiaojian Xiang
Yiwen Tan
author_facet Yong Geng
Xiaojian Xiang
Yiwen Tan
Yong Geng
Xiaojian Xiang
Yiwen Tan
collection Wiley Open Access
contents Foreign Acquisitions and Environmental Performance: From the Perspective of Pollution Offshoring Yong Geng Xiaojian Xiang Yiwen Tan The World Economy ABSTRACT The lack of consensus in academic research on the environmental effects of foreign ownership prompts us to re‐examine this issue. Using 3847 foreign acquisition cases in China from 1998 to 2013, we employ the PSM‐DID method to investigate the impact of foreign acquisitions on the pollution emissions of acquired plants. Our findings reveal an increase in sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ) emissions for acquired plants, a result that remains consistent when considering SO 2 emission intensity. We attribute this finding primarily to pollution offshoring: following foreign acquisitions, target plants shift their operations towards exporting intermediate goods, particularly pollution‐intensive ones. To support this shift, acquired plants tend to reduce R&D investments and expand production capacity by adding more production lines, which realigns their production structure towards pollution‐intensive industries. Consequently, the acquired plants are unlikely to gain positive environmental spillovers from the acquisition. Finally, we also evaluate the economic performance of the acquired plants and the impact of foreign divestment, finding that foreign investment primarily benefits the host country through financial channels rather than (green) technological channels. 10.1111/twec.70021 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor
doi_str_mv 10.1111/twec.70021
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id wiley_oa_10_1111_twec_70021
institution Wiley Open Access
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publishDate 2025
publisher Wiley
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spellingShingle Foreign Acquisitions and Environmental Performance: From the Perspective of Pollution Offshoring
Yong Geng
Xiaojian Xiang
Yiwen Tan
The World Economy
Foreign Acquisitions and Environmental Performance: From the Perspective of Pollution Offshoring Yong Geng Xiaojian Xiang Yiwen Tan The World Economy ABSTRACT The lack of consensus in academic research on the environmental effects of foreign ownership prompts us to re‐examine this issue. Using 3847 foreign acquisition cases in China from 1998 to 2013, we employ the PSM‐DID method to investigate the impact of foreign acquisitions on the pollution emissions of acquired plants. Our findings reveal an increase in sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ) emissions for acquired plants, a result that remains consistent when considering SO 2 emission intensity. We attribute this finding primarily to pollution offshoring: following foreign acquisitions, target plants shift their operations towards exporting intermediate goods, particularly pollution‐intensive ones. To support this shift, acquired plants tend to reduce R&D investments and expand production capacity by adding more production lines, which realigns their production structure towards pollution‐intensive industries. Consequently, the acquired plants are unlikely to gain positive environmental spillovers from the acquisition. Finally, we also evaluate the economic performance of the acquired plants and the impact of foreign divestment, finding that foreign investment primarily benefits the host country through financial channels rather than (green) technological channels. 10.1111/twec.70021 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor
title Foreign Acquisitions and Environmental Performance: From the Perspective of Pollution Offshoring
topic The World Economy
url https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/twec.70021