Global value chain, trade and carbon: Case of information and communication technology manufacturing sector

•Emerging economies experienced much faster growth in ICT exports than advanced economies.•The carbon intensities of emerging economies fell more rapidly than advanced economies.•Advanced economies received more value-added and emitted less carbon dioxide than emerging economies.•The technological upgrades of carbon control in emerging economies will considerably reduce the global emission.

This paper investigates the slicing up the value chain and the accompanied carbon dioxide emissions linked to the international trade of global information and communication technology (ICT) manufacturing sector, the most dynamic and globally dispersed sector in the world economy. Based on an inter-country input–output database WIOD, we trace the changes of value-added and the carbon dioxide emissions that are embodied in the international trade of ICT final products in 1995–2008. The results show that the emerging economies are largely benefited by involving in global ICT productions, for which advanced economies have always been major consumers and importers. Although the emerging economies experienced much faster upgrades in carbon-intensity-related technologies, in 2008 the advanced economies still emitted less carbon dioxide and obtained more added value than emerging economies, for identical amount of exports of ICT final products.