Evaluating Regional Carbon Inequality and Its Dependence with Carbon Efficiency: Implications for Carbon Neutrality
This paper proposes a novel regional carbon emission inequality (RCI) index based on a special kind of general distribution. Using the proposed RCI index and based on China’s county-level panel data over the time span of 1997–2017, the regional carbon emission inequality of China is evaluated at int...
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MDPI AG
2022-09-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/19/7022 |
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| author | Jingyu Ji Hang Lin |
| author_facet | Jingyu Ji Hang Lin |
| author_sort | Jingyu Ji |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper proposes a novel regional carbon emission inequality (RCI) index based on a special kind of general distribution. Using the proposed RCI index and based on China’s county-level panel data over the time span of 1997–2017, the regional carbon emission inequality of China is evaluated at intra-provincial, sub-national, and national levels. Based on that, the dependence between regional carbon inequality and carbon efficiency is studied by using copula functions and nonlinear dependence measures. The empirical results show that: (1) Shanghai, Tianjin, and Inner Mongolia have the worst carbon inequalities; while Hainan, Qinghai, and Jiangxi are the three most carbon-equal provinces; (2) there is a divergence phenomenon in RCI values of municipalities over the past decade; (3) from the national-level perspective, the inter-provincial carbon emission inequality is much greater than that at the intra-provincial level; (4) from the sub-national-level perspective, the east region has the highest RCI value, followed by the northeast, west, and the central regions; (5) there is a so-called "efficiency-equality (E-E) trade-off" in each provincial administrative unit, meaning that the higher carbon efficiency generally comes with higher carbon inequality, i.e., carbon efficiency comes at a price of carbon inequality; and (6) by re-grouping provincial units via the efficiency-equality cost and industrial structure, respectively, both carbon equality and carbon efficiency can be achieved in some regions simultaneously, thereby getting out of the “E-E trade-off” dilemma. The empirical evidence may provide valuable insight regarding the topic of “equality and efficiency” in environmental economics, and offer policy implications for regional economic planning and coordination. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T21:47:37Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1403eee0a4314a90850d9d0e6bd531c0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-1073 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T21:47:37Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Energies |
| spelling | doaj.art-1403eee0a4314a90850d9d0e6bd531c02023-11-23T20:11:51ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732022-09-011519702210.3390/en15197022Evaluating Regional Carbon Inequality and Its Dependence with Carbon Efficiency: Implications for Carbon NeutralityJingyu Ji0Hang Lin1School of Data Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, ChinaDepartment of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USAThis paper proposes a novel regional carbon emission inequality (RCI) index based on a special kind of general distribution. Using the proposed RCI index and based on China’s county-level panel data over the time span of 1997–2017, the regional carbon emission inequality of China is evaluated at intra-provincial, sub-national, and national levels. Based on that, the dependence between regional carbon inequality and carbon efficiency is studied by using copula functions and nonlinear dependence measures. The empirical results show that: (1) Shanghai, Tianjin, and Inner Mongolia have the worst carbon inequalities; while Hainan, Qinghai, and Jiangxi are the three most carbon-equal provinces; (2) there is a divergence phenomenon in RCI values of municipalities over the past decade; (3) from the national-level perspective, the inter-provincial carbon emission inequality is much greater than that at the intra-provincial level; (4) from the sub-national-level perspective, the east region has the highest RCI value, followed by the northeast, west, and the central regions; (5) there is a so-called "efficiency-equality (E-E) trade-off" in each provincial administrative unit, meaning that the higher carbon efficiency generally comes with higher carbon inequality, i.e., carbon efficiency comes at a price of carbon inequality; and (6) by re-grouping provincial units via the efficiency-equality cost and industrial structure, respectively, both carbon equality and carbon efficiency can be achieved in some regions simultaneously, thereby getting out of the “E-E trade-off” dilemma. The empirical evidence may provide valuable insight regarding the topic of “equality and efficiency” in environmental economics, and offer policy implications for regional economic planning and coordination.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/19/7022carbon emissionregional carbon inequalitycarbon efficiencycarbon neutralityasymmetric distributionnonlinear dependence |
| spellingShingle | Jingyu Ji Hang Lin Evaluating Regional Carbon Inequality and Its Dependence with Carbon Efficiency: Implications for Carbon Neutrality Energies carbon emission regional carbon inequality carbon efficiency carbon neutrality asymmetric distribution nonlinear dependence |
| title | Evaluating Regional Carbon Inequality and Its Dependence with Carbon Efficiency: Implications for Carbon Neutrality |
| title_full | Evaluating Regional Carbon Inequality and Its Dependence with Carbon Efficiency: Implications for Carbon Neutrality |
| title_fullStr | Evaluating Regional Carbon Inequality and Its Dependence with Carbon Efficiency: Implications for Carbon Neutrality |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evaluating Regional Carbon Inequality and Its Dependence with Carbon Efficiency: Implications for Carbon Neutrality |
| title_short | Evaluating Regional Carbon Inequality and Its Dependence with Carbon Efficiency: Implications for Carbon Neutrality |
| title_sort | evaluating regional carbon inequality and its dependence with carbon efficiency implications for carbon neutrality |
| topic | carbon emission regional carbon inequality carbon efficiency carbon neutrality asymmetric distribution nonlinear dependence |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/19/7022 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jingyuji evaluatingregionalcarboninequalityanditsdependencewithcarbonefficiencyimplicationsforcarbonneutrality AT hanglin evaluatingregionalcarboninequalityanditsdependencewithcarbonefficiencyimplicationsforcarbonneutrality |