Geographic sources and the structural decomposition of emissions embodied in trade by Chinese megacities: The case of Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing

Based on a structural decomposition analysis within a multi-regional input-output analytical framework, this study analyzes and compares the changes in and geographic sources of the emissions embodied in trade (EET) at the city level. It also examines how and why the EET changed in four Chinese mega-regions between 2002 and 2010. One finding is that the geographic sources of Beijing's, Tianjin's, and Shanghai's emissions embodied in exports (EEE) are mainly located in the provinces of the Tianjin-Hebei-Henan areas and the east coast regions of China, whereas the geographic sources of Chongqing's EEE are primarily concentrated in the southeast of China and central China. Conversely, Beijing's, Tianjin's, and Shanghai's emissions embodied in imports (EEI) are strongly associated with the provinces of Northern and North Central China, whereas Chongqing's EEI are mainly related to the southeast of China and the Hebei-Henan areas. Another important finding is that a megacity's EEE are most affected by demand in the other regions and production in the local city, whereas its EEI are largely determined by demand in the local city and production in the other regions.