The Evolution of Global Trade & Impacts on Countries' Carbon Trade Imbalances

We examine carbon trade imbalances among 172 countries over a 10-year period (2000–2010). A carbon trade imbalance refers to the extent to which the carbon emissions embodied in a country’s exports exceeds the emissions embodied in its imports. Although past research has considered how such balances coincide with variances in wealth and/or trade patterns, none have considered how such balances arise in the context of an evolving network structure. In this seminar, Dr. Christina Prell will consider trade networks and carbon trade imbalances as co-evolving phenomena and will study these using an innovative combination of multi-regional input-output (MRIO) analysis with stochastic actor-oriented models (SAOMs). The findings both challenge and support arguments made by Ecological Unequal Exchange theory and the Gravity Model, and highlight the role emerging economies play in shaping network structure and the distribution of carbon trade imbalances overtime.