Do recipient country characteristics affect international spillovers of CO2-efficiency via trade and foreign direct investment?

Although there is evidence that CO2-efficiency enhancing innovations in one country diffuse into other countries to contribute to the goals of climate change mitigation, very little is known about the conditions under which such international spillovers are most likely to take place. Our contribution in the present article seeks to address this gap by examining whether the strength of cross-border CO2-efficiency spatial dependence working through import ties and inward foreign direct investment (FDI) stocks is greater in (a) countries with lower existing levels of domestic CO2-efficiency and (b) countries with greater social capabilities in terms of a better educated workforce and higher institutional quality. We find that less CO2-efficient countries and countries with higher institutional quality experience stronger FDI-weighted CO2-efficiency spillovers, whereas a higher level of human capital increases receptivity to import-weighted international spillovers