A Green Bargaining Game and Electric Vehicle Exports

As China's domestic durables market grows, this nation will use its increasing market clout to extract better terms of trade for those multinationals who seek to sell there and seek to qualify for government incentives from the Chinese government.  This article sketches the tradeoffs that General Motors faces as it considers whether it wants to share its "green golden goose" technology with its Chinese counterparts in return for "carrots".

This is an interesting example of intellectual property protection and the rise of the green economy.   Greens would prefer that vehicle growth be slow in China and that if it must happen that the vehicles should not be gasoline vehicles.  Chinese electric vehicles will create GHG emissions because of China's reliance on coal to produce electricity.

If GM is willing to partner with the Chinese, then this will increase China's green car share.  Will GM accept the terms they have been offered?   They would be more likely to do so if they believe that their innovative edge can't be matched by China's engineers.   In fashion, designers move on to the next big thing  as their previous idea is mass produced.   Should we view GM's engineers as fashion designers?