Beyond the Environmental Kuznets Curve: Multinational Corporations and Their Impacts

Flashcards covering key terms, historical trends, examples of pollution exporting, and specific case studies related to multinational corporations and their environmental impacts, based on Professor John M. Shandra's lecture notes.

What concept is raised in relation to the migration or relocation of dirty industries to poor nations?

Exporting of Pollution

What is a Multinational Corporation (MNC)?

A company with its headquarters in a high-income nation and operations in one or more low or middle-income nations.

What is the 'Race to the Bottom' phenomenon?

It occurs when competition among poor nations to attract multinational corporations leads to progressively lower environmental regulations, wages, and taxes.

What is an Export Processing Zone (EPZ)?

A part of a nation where multinational corporations locate a factory and are often exempt from obeying a country’s laws and regulations.

According to a 2004 report by the Texas Center for Policy Studies, what percentage of Mexico's hazardous waste receives proper treatment?

Only about 10%.

What is a major consequence of the low percentage of properly treated hazardous waste in Mexico, as reported in 2004?

Millions of tons of unaccounted for or illegally dumped hazardous waste.

How much of Mexico's hazardous industrial waste was reported to be illegally dumped in 2003 by Simeon Tegel for EcoAméricas?

50-80%.

In 2017, what illegal activity was reported concerning Apple's iPhone X assembly at a Foxconn plant in China?

The employment of students working illegal overtime (11-hour days) to assemble the iPhone X.

What is '(Almost) Complete Relocation' in the context of the Race to the Bottom?

A process whereby an entire industry relocates to a low- or middle-income nation.

What specific industry is highlighted as an example of world outsourcing pollution in the lecture notes?

The steel industry.

Which country is noted for producing more steel each year than the United States, Germany, and Japan combined, and is also a recipient of outsourced steel production?

China.

What happened to a blast furnace from a German steelmaker mentioned in the lecture notes?

It was dismantled, shipped to China, and reassembled there as part of the Hangang plant.

What action did residents of Mengwu Village near the Hangang plant take regarding pollution?

They protested the pollution from Hangang.

What specific air pollutants were found in abnormally high levels attached to coal dust around Handan in a 2006 study?

Chemicals in the benzene family.

What are some notable byproducts found in the air around Handan due to industrial activity?

Sulfur dioxide and benzopyrene.

What is the implied consequence of Germany cleaning up its steel-related pollution legacy by relocating facilities like the No. 7 blast furnace?

The pollution problem itself has simply been moved to another place (e.g., China).

How do residents of Mengwu Village describe the impact of pollution on their daily lives?

They avoid eating outdoors lest black fallout flake their rice.