When Regulation Travels: Supply Chain Disruptions and Environmental Spillovers under the Clean Air Act with Scott Holladay (U of Tennessee), Jay Hyun (U of Alberta) and Gueyon Kim (UCSC),  Under Review
We study how place-based environmental regulation reshapes supply chains and emissions. Using U.S. establishment data combined with firm-to-firm linkages, we exploit quasi-random variation in Clean Air Act nonattainment designations to estimate the effects of direct and indirect regulatory exposure. Establishments facing regulatory shocks via network counterparts sever ties with regulated partners and face barriers to forming new linkages. Yet these network adjustments explain little of the observed emission changes. Establishments lower emissions under direct and supplier-side regulatory exposures but increase emissions when their customers are regulated—consistent with stronger customer bargaining power shaping firms’ environmental responses under indirect regulatory pressure.

When Trade Meets the Sky: How Global Value Chains Shape Industrial Air Pollution with William Ridley (UIUC),  Revise and Resubmit at the Review of World Economics
We study the joint roles of global value chain (GVC) positioning (the "distance" of an industry from its upstream inputs and downstream consumers) and trade competitiveness (the effective prices received by an industry for its exports or paid on its imports in terms of foreign exchange) in determining the intensity of industries' emissions of air pollution. Using data on country-by-industry emissions and GVC positions, we first document that industries' emission intensities are mediated by their distance in the value chain from primary factors versus final consumers, as well as their trade competitiveness. Second, we show that the improved import competitiveness but worsened export competitiveness arising from an appreciation of the domestic currency can lead to declines in emission intensities for industries operating in vertically longer production networks (i.e., value chains with a larger number of industry segments separating primary factors from final consumption). The main insights of our analysis underscore that international trade policies that (i) encourage the consolidation of GVC participants towards "core" positions or (ii) extended GVCs can complement international environmental policy efforts.

Trade Policy and the Emissions Content of Agricultural Trade with Keliang Xiao and William Ridley (UIUC),  In Progress
Agriculture's role in the generation of greenhouse gases (GHGs) has come under increasing scrutiny. Simultaneously, global agricultural production and trade continue to rise due to ever-growing demand and persistent reductions in trade barriers. We investigate the implications of agricultural trade liberalization for global farm-gate GHG emissions embodied in traded agricultural commodities. To do this, we employ a structural gravity estimation and simulation framework to quantify the counterfactual impacts of tariff preferences on global trade flows, and the embodied emissions content of these flows, for a selection of prominent agricultural commodities. We document that tariff preferences have led to a global increase in trade-embodied emissions of nitrous oxides (N2O) and methane (CH4), two major greenhouse gases, of 20.68 and 714.65 kilotons, respectively---a CO2-equivalent increase of 37.88 megatons equaling 120.46% of global farm-gate GHG emissions from agriculture. Our findings underscore the critical need to balance trade policy with climate and environmental considerations.

Wildfire Smoke Fuels Pollution Emissions in the U.S. Electricity Sector with Daniel Kaffine (CU Boulder),  In Progress
Over recent decades, wildfires in the United States have become more frequent and severe. At the same time, the electricity sector has seen a growing shift toward renewable energy sources like solar and wind, contributing to an overall decline in pollution emissions. These two trends raise an important question: does intensified wildfire smoke, by reducing the efficiency of renewable generation, drive up emissions through increased reliance on non-renewables? We address this by first testing whether wildfire smoke leads to higher emissions in the electricity sector, then examining whether short-term shifts from renewable to non-renewable sources are the primary driver, and finally analyzing how non-renewable generation adjusts within counties affected by smoke. Using daily precipitation as an instrument for wildfire-related PM2.5, we find that: (a) pollution emissions rise significantly on smoke days; (b) the shift from renewable to non-renewable generation partly explains the increase, but elevated electricity demand on smoke days also plays a key role; and (c) the response within non-renewables comes mainly from increased generation levels rather than changes in fuel mix or gains in efficiency/intensified abatement activities. These findings reveal overlooked environmental consequences of wildfire smoke and show how the U.S. electricity sector dynamically adjusts under such conditions.

The Economics of Space Development with Akhil Rao (Middleburry, Rational Futures),  The Oxford Handbook of the New Space Economy
Do Competitive Markets Cleanup the US Electricity Sector?: Evidence from the Southwest Power Pool with Daniel Kaffine (CU Boulder),  The Energy Journal (2025)
Thirsty for Trade: How Globalization Shapes Virtual Water Trade with William Ridley (UIUC),  Environmental and Resource Economics (2025)
How Do Exchange Rates Affect the Environment? with William Ridley (UIUC),  Canadian Journal of Economics//Revue canadienne d'économique (2025)
Regional Heterogeneity in Environmental Quality: The Role of Firm Production Networks and Trade with Jacob Howard (MITRE) and William Ridley (UIUC),  Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (2024)
Harmonizing Welfare and Externalities: Unraveling the Product Versus Process Standards Puzzle in Regulatory Policy with Difei Geng (UARK),  Economics Bulletin (2023)
Can the Federal Reserve Save the Environment? with Kyoung-Gon Kim (Dongguk Univ.),  Journal of Cleaner Production (2023)
 US Power Grid and Trade, with Daniel Kaffine and Sergey Nigai (CU Boulder)
 Wildlife Crossings and Accidents, with Hyunseok Jung and Tandem Young (UARK)