Environmental provisions in preferential trade agreements: their impact on trade

Abstract

Amid the ever‐growing number of preferential trade agreements (PTAs), more and more environmental provisions (EPs) are included. This raises the question of their ecological relevance in such agreements, as well as their would‐be negative effect on trade. There also exists an increasing fear from the developing world that these EPs could be used as some form of green protectionism from richer countries. Using a novel mix of databases, this study aims at addressing these topics. Our results point towards a positive effect of EPs on trade without suggesting any evidence for potential green protectionism. This opens doors for future research to shed light on the effects of other non‐trade provisions included in PTAs on trade flows.