Author: Victoria Kreinbrink

Publisher:

Published: 2021

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13:

International trade is an important element of the global economy. Analyzing product level trade and patterns of specialization can provide new insights into and a better understanding of a country’s economic activity. In this dissertation, I use detailed international trade data to study the effects of two ecological factors. In recent years, climate change and the pandemic have been at the forefront of global political and economic discourse.Wildfires have increased in intensity, storms have led to -60 degree temperatures in Chicago,and millions have died from Covid-19. Given increased deforestation and land development,both effects from climate change and an increase in diseases from wildlife exposure are likely to become even more common in our future. I examine two specific cases where ecological factors affect economic activity through the lens of international trade in order to better understand the interactions between ecological and economic forces. My first essay is about palm oil and mitigation of ecological consequences of economic activity through sustainable certification. Economic growth has environmental consequences.Certification of sustainable production of palm oil may help mitigate adverse consequences.The Round table of Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was formed to combat deforestation associated with palm oil and create a sustainable pathway of production. Countries have adopted RSPO certification at different rates depending on a variety of factors. In this dissertation essay I exploit these differences in demand due to the altered embodied characteristics of palm oil. I apply a variation of discrete choice methodology to international trade in palm oil in order to quantify the effect of the transfer of preferences for clean products in developed countries to the production process in developing countries. I seek to determine the effects of share of certification on total palm oil trade through observing changes in trade following certification of palm oil production. I find that a one percentage point increase in a country’s share of certified palm oil out of their total production leads to 0.7 percent increase in theirtrade of palm oil holding price and other factors constant. Certification has a significant, positive effect on a country’s trade in palm oil. My second essay is about effects of pandemics on trade. I specifically investigate correlation of effects of the two most recent pandemics. Pandemics disrupt economic activity. Even though all pandemics are different, they are also similar to one another in the types of shocks they create for the global economy. Using detailed product-level monthly US import data, I estimate the relationship between short-run responses to the H1N1 Influenza (swineflu) pandemic and short-run responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. A key aspect of the study is that I estimate detailed heterogeneous treatment effects of the two pandemics and explore the relationship between the two. I find that the trade responses between the two pandemics are negatively correlated on average indicating that the trade flows affected by swine flu aremore resilient to future pandemics.