Aparna Sawhney - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Aparna Sawhney
Examining tradeable permits with market power, banking and non-compliance: a finite period model
In this paper we examine the pattern of inward FDI at the disaggregated industry level (NIC 3- di... more In this paper we examine the pattern of inward FDI at the disaggregated industry level (NIC 3- digit), and test for the industry-specific characteristics that have been significant in attracting foreign investment in India during 2000-10. Since highly polluting industries (based on Central Pollution Control Board classification) have accounted for a substantive share of the FDI inflows, we control for these industries to discern the differential impact of industry characteristics in the dirty manufacturing sector. Our analysis of the FDI inflows focuses on a panel of top ten investing countries, as well as individual countries with relatively stringent environmental norms. Our results indicate that aggregate FDI in India was most significant in capital-intensive industries and those with large market size. Similarly, investment from Japan and UK was most significant in capital-intensive industries. However FDI from the US was significant in less-energy intensive industries, while wi...
Social Science Research Network, 2022
India is one of the largest importers of waste in the world with metallic scrap constituting the ... more India is one of the largest importers of waste in the world with metallic scrap constituting the bulk of the waste imports. While relatively weak environmental standards in developing countries is often seen to be a key factor in the emergence of waste havens in cross-country studies, little attention has been given to examine the pattern of waste trade in a developing country over time. This paper analyzes factors determining metallic waste import in India from different source countries during 1996 through 2012. We empirically test the presence of waste haven effect in metallic scrap import by India after controlling for technology and home market demand. We find that the escalating domestic demand for metal and use of relatively labor-intensive technology are significant factors behind India’s import of metallic wastes from different source countries. We find no empirical evidence of waste haven effect.
Economics Bulletin, 2019
One of the core development objectives of the liberalization regime in India was to enhance FDI i... more One of the core development objectives of the liberalization regime in India was to enhance FDI in the high-technology industries. Although FDI inflows have increased substantively, it seems that the development goal of technology transfer has not been realized. Moreover, weak enforcement and compliance of environmental norms has put the country at risk of a pollution-haven effect. We examine the pattern of FDI in manufacturing industries, differentiated by technology-intensity and pollution-intensity, to discern the nature of industries that have attracted foreign investment. We build a comprehensive dataset using three databases (on external merchandise trade, foreign investment and domestic production), and find that FDI inflows increased substantially in capital-intensive industries, but not in skill-intensive manufacturing. High-tech export-oriented polluting industries gained significantly, suggesting possibility of a pollution-haven effect through export-platform FDI in pollu...
Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, 2020
As India prepares to emerge as a five trillion-dollar economy, it is critical for the growth to b... more As India prepares to emerge as a five trillion-dollar economy, it is critical for the growth to be sustainable. Given the high incidence of energy poverty, one of the greatest challenges for the country is to ensure universal access to clean electricity to its population by 2030. This article outlines the key policies implemented in India for the transition, including the radical legislative changes to restructure the electricity sector for greater use of renewable energy, and ambitious domestic target revisions running parallel to the international commitment to limit global warming. It highlights the progress achieved in renewable energy transition of the power sector during the last 5 years since signing of the Paris Agreement, but also notes that little attention has been devoted to the waste management from the renewable energy sector. There is urgent need for policy consistency across sectors in India to ensure the adoption of the essential principle of a circular economy in the development of "clean" renewable energy.
Indian Economic Review, 2020
We track the impact of industrial agglomeration on the export behaviour of manufacturing plants i... more We track the impact of industrial agglomeration on the export behaviour of manufacturing plants in the organized sector across the Indian states during 2008-2009 through 2013-2014, at disaggregated 4-digit industry level. In our dynamic probit analysis, we find that manufacturing plants in industries with increasing agglomeration are more likely to export, and there is strong evidence of positive spillover effect of local exporting plants. Moreover, prior export experience of a plant, growth in its factor productivity, and greater use of imported-inputs in production significantly enhanced its export propensity. Among the infrastructure facilities, road density is confirmed to be a key factor in enhancing export behaviour. However, power availability appears to be a non-critical factor, suggesting that exporting plants in India rely on captive power generation in the face of electricity shortages.
Environment, Development and Sustainability, 2020
The criterion of non-declining comprehensive wealth per capita used to determine sustainability o... more The criterion of non-declining comprehensive wealth per capita used to determine sustainability of economic growth indicates that growth in most countries is weakly sustainable, as decline in natural capital is more than offset by increase in anthropogenic capital. This paper examines the sustainability of economic growth in India by estimating the trend in comprehensive wealth during 1975-2013, utilizing recent remote sensing native forest cover data in order to obtain more accurate valuation of natural capital. This is the first study to construct wealth estimates for a period spanning four decades, apart from adopting hybrid methodology for estimating certain wealth components such as subsoil assets. We find that the composition of India's wealth is biased toward produced capital, although given the large working-age population, India holds immense potential for human capital building. The quality of natural capital is also deteriorating due to increasing carbon emissions and particulate pollution. Although we find that growth in India is weakly sustainable, it is based on the assumption of perfect substitutability of different capital forms, which is questionable. Loss of natural forests and accompanying native biodiversity raises serious concerns of the threat it poses to future generations. Our sensitivity analysis based on variation in the discount rate also suggests cautious use of natural resources.
Economic and Political Weekly, Mar 31, 2007
Economic and Political Weekly, 2003
Eastern Economic Journal, Feb 1, 1996
Information Communication Technology and Economic Development
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2002
Economic or market based installments for pollution control has been in the policy agenda of the ... more Economic or market based installments for pollution control has been in the policy agenda of the Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests for a decade now. In the meantime, the law of pollution liability endorsed through environmental public interest litigation (PIL), and resultant judicial activism during the late 1980s and 1990s, has performed as indirect market based instruments of pollution management in India. While a purely judicial approach to environmental management can neither be effective or efficient, this paper argues that PIL has played a significant role in India's pollution management system. As a result new environmental legislation have been established, and economic incentives have been created for polluters to increase abatement (to reduce the risk of environmental damage costs). This has ultimately helped in the growth of a new environment market, where foreign investors perceive that PIL and judicial activism is a significant driving force behind the growth of the new market.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2001
This paper analyses the impact of the SPS and TBT agreements on developing Asian countries with s... more This paper analyses the impact of the SPS and TBT agreements on developing Asian countries with special reference to India. The implementation of these provisions has raised questions of economic protection versus environmental protection. Departure from harmonized international standards, and proliferation of eco-branding in the North, has resulted in market fragmentation for developing country exports. While consumer sovereignty/environmental risk preferences of different nations have to be respected, developing countries need to express their own environmental priorities. Only then would global diversity in environmental endowment and knowledge be accurately reflected in the multilateral trading system and help achieve sustainable development.
Technology, Finance, Environmental, and International Guidance and Best Practices, 2012
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2002
There has been a steady increase in environmental notifications under the provisions in the WTO A... more There has been a steady increase in environmental notifications under the provisions in the WTO Agreements as indicated by the recent WTO environmental database. This trend threatens to reduce market access and competitiveness of traditional exports from developing countries like India. The Indian businesses need to aggressively address the green challenge in the world market, and credibly signal the eco-sensitivity of their products in the market by increasing environmental certification. Other developing countries like China have been quick with proactive strategies on environmental certification to tap global opportunities in the sectors like organic food/beverage and eco-textiles. The rates of growth in ISO 14001 and IFOAM certified firms/farms in China have been phenomenal, and tin total number of such eco-certified Chinese firms/farms outstripped those in India in the last six years. Drawing from the literature on competitiveness and environmental regulations, and anecdotal evidence of actual firm experience, this paper puts forward the case that it is both essential and profitable for Indian businesses to increase environmental certifications to take advantage of the full potential of the opportunities in the world market.
Centre for International Trade and Development, …, 2010
In order to gauge the sustainability of the economic growth of nations, genuine savings rates are... more In order to gauge the sustainability of the economic growth of nations, genuine savings rates are used as a ready comparable measure. Essentially it provides a measure of the sum of the change in various forms of capital, including manufactured, ecological (natural resource and pollution), human and knowledge capital. The depreciation in manufactured and natural capital during the economic growth process is deducted from the conventional national savings to measure genuine wealth. With increasing attention to global warming, the loss due to the increase in stock pollution of carbon emissions has also entered into the accounting exercise. However the damage from local flow and stock pollutants to human capital productivity has not got the same attention. This paper argues that in a developing country like India, where adverse human health impacts are known to be significant from local pollution and defensive expenditure is not forthcoming from the population at large, ignoring human productivity losses introduces a serious upward bias in the genuine wealth and savings measure especially with an increasing trend in emission of hazardous wastes. To this effect, it considers human capital as a function of both education and the stock pollutant in the Hamilton model that further raises the cost of pollutants. The paper suggests that, the depreciation in human capital may be taken as an increasing function of the local pollution generated in the system (following the current logic of using education expenditure as a proxy for enhancement in human capital). The attention to the local pollutants in the genuine wealth and savings measure would help focus developing country government policy on local pollution concurrently with their focus on global pollutants. The paper observes that current development of green accounting system in India is a step in the right direction, since it has attempted to account for health costs of pollution in some of the states.
Examining tradeable permits with market power, banking and non-compliance: a finite period model
In this paper we examine the pattern of inward FDI at the disaggregated industry level (NIC 3- di... more In this paper we examine the pattern of inward FDI at the disaggregated industry level (NIC 3- digit), and test for the industry-specific characteristics that have been significant in attracting foreign investment in India during 2000-10. Since highly polluting industries (based on Central Pollution Control Board classification) have accounted for a substantive share of the FDI inflows, we control for these industries to discern the differential impact of industry characteristics in the dirty manufacturing sector. Our analysis of the FDI inflows focuses on a panel of top ten investing countries, as well as individual countries with relatively stringent environmental norms. Our results indicate that aggregate FDI in India was most significant in capital-intensive industries and those with large market size. Similarly, investment from Japan and UK was most significant in capital-intensive industries. However FDI from the US was significant in less-energy intensive industries, while wi...
Social Science Research Network, 2022
India is one of the largest importers of waste in the world with metallic scrap constituting the ... more India is one of the largest importers of waste in the world with metallic scrap constituting the bulk of the waste imports. While relatively weak environmental standards in developing countries is often seen to be a key factor in the emergence of waste havens in cross-country studies, little attention has been given to examine the pattern of waste trade in a developing country over time. This paper analyzes factors determining metallic waste import in India from different source countries during 1996 through 2012. We empirically test the presence of waste haven effect in metallic scrap import by India after controlling for technology and home market demand. We find that the escalating domestic demand for metal and use of relatively labor-intensive technology are significant factors behind India’s import of metallic wastes from different source countries. We find no empirical evidence of waste haven effect.
Economics Bulletin, 2019
One of the core development objectives of the liberalization regime in India was to enhance FDI i... more One of the core development objectives of the liberalization regime in India was to enhance FDI in the high-technology industries. Although FDI inflows have increased substantively, it seems that the development goal of technology transfer has not been realized. Moreover, weak enforcement and compliance of environmental norms has put the country at risk of a pollution-haven effect. We examine the pattern of FDI in manufacturing industries, differentiated by technology-intensity and pollution-intensity, to discern the nature of industries that have attracted foreign investment. We build a comprehensive dataset using three databases (on external merchandise trade, foreign investment and domestic production), and find that FDI inflows increased substantially in capital-intensive industries, but not in skill-intensive manufacturing. High-tech export-oriented polluting industries gained significantly, suggesting possibility of a pollution-haven effect through export-platform FDI in pollu...
Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, 2020
As India prepares to emerge as a five trillion-dollar economy, it is critical for the growth to b... more As India prepares to emerge as a five trillion-dollar economy, it is critical for the growth to be sustainable. Given the high incidence of energy poverty, one of the greatest challenges for the country is to ensure universal access to clean electricity to its population by 2030. This article outlines the key policies implemented in India for the transition, including the radical legislative changes to restructure the electricity sector for greater use of renewable energy, and ambitious domestic target revisions running parallel to the international commitment to limit global warming. It highlights the progress achieved in renewable energy transition of the power sector during the last 5 years since signing of the Paris Agreement, but also notes that little attention has been devoted to the waste management from the renewable energy sector. There is urgent need for policy consistency across sectors in India to ensure the adoption of the essential principle of a circular economy in the development of "clean" renewable energy.
Indian Economic Review, 2020
We track the impact of industrial agglomeration on the export behaviour of manufacturing plants i... more We track the impact of industrial agglomeration on the export behaviour of manufacturing plants in the organized sector across the Indian states during 2008-2009 through 2013-2014, at disaggregated 4-digit industry level. In our dynamic probit analysis, we find that manufacturing plants in industries with increasing agglomeration are more likely to export, and there is strong evidence of positive spillover effect of local exporting plants. Moreover, prior export experience of a plant, growth in its factor productivity, and greater use of imported-inputs in production significantly enhanced its export propensity. Among the infrastructure facilities, road density is confirmed to be a key factor in enhancing export behaviour. However, power availability appears to be a non-critical factor, suggesting that exporting plants in India rely on captive power generation in the face of electricity shortages.
Environment, Development and Sustainability, 2020
The criterion of non-declining comprehensive wealth per capita used to determine sustainability o... more The criterion of non-declining comprehensive wealth per capita used to determine sustainability of economic growth indicates that growth in most countries is weakly sustainable, as decline in natural capital is more than offset by increase in anthropogenic capital. This paper examines the sustainability of economic growth in India by estimating the trend in comprehensive wealth during 1975-2013, utilizing recent remote sensing native forest cover data in order to obtain more accurate valuation of natural capital. This is the first study to construct wealth estimates for a period spanning four decades, apart from adopting hybrid methodology for estimating certain wealth components such as subsoil assets. We find that the composition of India's wealth is biased toward produced capital, although given the large working-age population, India holds immense potential for human capital building. The quality of natural capital is also deteriorating due to increasing carbon emissions and particulate pollution. Although we find that growth in India is weakly sustainable, it is based on the assumption of perfect substitutability of different capital forms, which is questionable. Loss of natural forests and accompanying native biodiversity raises serious concerns of the threat it poses to future generations. Our sensitivity analysis based on variation in the discount rate also suggests cautious use of natural resources.
Economic and Political Weekly, Mar 31, 2007
Economic and Political Weekly, 2003
Eastern Economic Journal, Feb 1, 1996
Information Communication Technology and Economic Development
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2002
Economic or market based installments for pollution control has been in the policy agenda of the ... more Economic or market based installments for pollution control has been in the policy agenda of the Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests for a decade now. In the meantime, the law of pollution liability endorsed through environmental public interest litigation (PIL), and resultant judicial activism during the late 1980s and 1990s, has performed as indirect market based instruments of pollution management in India. While a purely judicial approach to environmental management can neither be effective or efficient, this paper argues that PIL has played a significant role in India's pollution management system. As a result new environmental legislation have been established, and economic incentives have been created for polluters to increase abatement (to reduce the risk of environmental damage costs). This has ultimately helped in the growth of a new environment market, where foreign investors perceive that PIL and judicial activism is a significant driving force behind the growth of the new market.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2001
This paper analyses the impact of the SPS and TBT agreements on developing Asian countries with s... more This paper analyses the impact of the SPS and TBT agreements on developing Asian countries with special reference to India. The implementation of these provisions has raised questions of economic protection versus environmental protection. Departure from harmonized international standards, and proliferation of eco-branding in the North, has resulted in market fragmentation for developing country exports. While consumer sovereignty/environmental risk preferences of different nations have to be respected, developing countries need to express their own environmental priorities. Only then would global diversity in environmental endowment and knowledge be accurately reflected in the multilateral trading system and help achieve sustainable development.
Technology, Finance, Environmental, and International Guidance and Best Practices, 2012
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2002
There has been a steady increase in environmental notifications under the provisions in the WTO A... more There has been a steady increase in environmental notifications under the provisions in the WTO Agreements as indicated by the recent WTO environmental database. This trend threatens to reduce market access and competitiveness of traditional exports from developing countries like India. The Indian businesses need to aggressively address the green challenge in the world market, and credibly signal the eco-sensitivity of their products in the market by increasing environmental certification. Other developing countries like China have been quick with proactive strategies on environmental certification to tap global opportunities in the sectors like organic food/beverage and eco-textiles. The rates of growth in ISO 14001 and IFOAM certified firms/farms in China have been phenomenal, and tin total number of such eco-certified Chinese firms/farms outstripped those in India in the last six years. Drawing from the literature on competitiveness and environmental regulations, and anecdotal evidence of actual firm experience, this paper puts forward the case that it is both essential and profitable for Indian businesses to increase environmental certifications to take advantage of the full potential of the opportunities in the world market.
Centre for International Trade and Development, …, 2010
In order to gauge the sustainability of the economic growth of nations, genuine savings rates are... more In order to gauge the sustainability of the economic growth of nations, genuine savings rates are used as a ready comparable measure. Essentially it provides a measure of the sum of the change in various forms of capital, including manufactured, ecological (natural resource and pollution), human and knowledge capital. The depreciation in manufactured and natural capital during the economic growth process is deducted from the conventional national savings to measure genuine wealth. With increasing attention to global warming, the loss due to the increase in stock pollution of carbon emissions has also entered into the accounting exercise. However the damage from local flow and stock pollutants to human capital productivity has not got the same attention. This paper argues that in a developing country like India, where adverse human health impacts are known to be significant from local pollution and defensive expenditure is not forthcoming from the population at large, ignoring human productivity losses introduces a serious upward bias in the genuine wealth and savings measure especially with an increasing trend in emission of hazardous wastes. To this effect, it considers human capital as a function of both education and the stock pollutant in the Hamilton model that further raises the cost of pollutants. The paper suggests that, the depreciation in human capital may be taken as an increasing function of the local pollution generated in the system (following the current logic of using education expenditure as a proxy for enhancement in human capital). The attention to the local pollutants in the genuine wealth and savings measure would help focus developing country government policy on local pollution concurrently with their focus on global pollutants. The paper observes that current development of green accounting system in India is a step in the right direction, since it has attempted to account for health costs of pollution in some of the states.