Mapping Carbon Footprint Along Global Value Chains : A Study Based on Firm Heterogeneity in China

Carbon footprint (CF) is a catchphrase in the public climate-change discussion, the generation and distribution of which has been profoundly changed with the emergence of global value chains. The purpose of this paper is to trace the CF of China’s domestic-owned enterprises (DOEs) and foreign-owned enterprises (FOEs) along GVCs to the upstream regions and industries where the CF is generated. By building a multi-regional input-output model that distinguishes firm ownership, we analyze the CF of both DOEs and FOEs in China from global, host country and other countries’ perspectives. Our findings show that the CF per value added of DOEs fell faster than that of FOEs during 2005-2016. Most of the CF of FOEs is distributed in energy-intensive industries of DOEs. From the perspective of global climate governance, the host country should formulate strict emission restrictions on different enterprises, and the MNEs should ware emissions of their affiliates abroad