世界银行-环境约束与企业参与全球价值链：中东和北非国家的证据（英）

Policy Research Working Paper11161Environmental Stringency and Firms’ Participation in Global Value ChainsEvidence for MENA CountriesNada HazemChahir Zaki Middle East and North Africa RegionOffice of the Chief EconomistJune 2025 Public Disclosure AuthorizedPublic Disclosure AuthorizedPublic Disclosure AuthorizedPublic Disclosure AuthorizedProduced by the Research Support TeamAbstractThe Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.Policy Research Working Paper 11161The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region stands among the most vulnerable areas to the impacts of climate change. At the same time, with lax environmental regula-tions, this region’s integration into Global Value Chains (GVC) is modest. Thus, this paper aims to examine the effect of environmental stringency on GVC participation in MENA countries. To do so, using the World Bank Enterprise Surveys, this paper analyzes how environmental regulations and treaties affect both the extensive and the intensive margins of GVCs. The main results show that national environmental regulations increase the likelihood of integrating into GVCs when it is measured using both the simple and the strict definitions. This result highlights the role of such regulations in attracting GVCs in developing countries and thus lends support to the Porter Hypothesis. The paper also shows that these regulations increase the effect of spending on research and development on GVC. Yet, the results are less conclusive for the role of environ-mental treaties. These results remain robust when a mixed multilevel approach is used, and when large exporters, who might lobby to affect policy choices, are dropped from the analysis. In addition, at the sectoral level, national regula-tions are associated with higher GVC participation in the food sector in the MENA region and lower participation in the plastics one. Finally, regulatory stringency increases the probability of GVC participation for both SMEs and large firms, with the effect generally stronger for SMEs.This paper is a product of the Office of the Chief Economist, Middle East and North Africa Region. It is part of a larger effort by the World Bank to provide open access to its research and make a contribution to development policy discussions around the world. Policy Research Working Papers are also posted on the Web at http://www.worldb