The Carbon Cost of Competitive Pressure *

Higher exposure to competition-measured by product fluidity-is associated with higher carbon emissions. This result is robust to using instrumental variables to obtain exogenous variation in fluidity and also holds when using only reported emission data, excluding estimated emissions. The relationship between competition and carbon emissions is stronger for firms in areas less concerned about climate change and areas with weaker social norms. Short-termism does not explain the results, as the emissionscompetition link is at least as strong for firms with longer-term-oriented shareholders. Our findings suggest that promoting competition may be at odds with climate change abatement.