Do Carbon Emissions and Economic Growth Decouple in China? An Empirical Analysis Based on Provincial Panel Data

Global warming has emerged as a serious threat to humans and sustainable development. China is under increasing pressure to curb its carbon emissions as the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide. By combining the Tapio decoupling model and the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) framewor...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yu Hao, Zirui Huang, Haitao Wu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2019-06-01
Series:Energies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/12/2411
_version_ 1798006741175107584
author Yu Hao
Zirui Huang
Haitao Wu
author_facet Yu Hao
Zirui Huang
Haitao Wu
author_sort Yu Hao
collection DOAJ
description Global warming has emerged as a serious threat to humans and sustainable development. China is under increasing pressure to curb its carbon emissions as the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide. By combining the Tapio decoupling model and the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) framework, this paper explores the relationship between China’s carbon emissions and economic growth. Based on panel data of 29 provinces from 2007 to 2016, this paper quantitatively estimates the nexus of carbon emissions and economic development for the whole nation and the decoupling status of individual provinces. There is empirical evidence for the conventional EKC hypothesis, showing that the relationship between carbon emissions and per capita gross domestic product (GDP) is an inverted U shape and that the inflection point will not be attained soon. Moreover, following the estimation results of the Tapio decoupling model, there were significant differences between individual provinces in decoupling status. As a result, differentiated and targeted environmental regulations and policies regarding energy consumption and carbon emissions should be reasonably formulated for different provinces and regions based on the corresponding level of economic development and decoupling status.
first_indexed 2024-04-11T12:59:32Z
format Article
id doaj.art-7efa9ca184d6441080d7f1a54fd9f97c
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1996-1073
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-11T12:59:32Z
publishDate 2019-06-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Energies
spelling doaj.art-7efa9ca184d6441080d7f1a54fd9f97c2022-12-22T04:22:59ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732019-06-011212241110.3390/en12122411en12122411Do Carbon Emissions and Economic Growth Decouple in China? An Empirical Analysis Based on Provincial Panel DataYu Hao0Zirui Huang1Haitao Wu2Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, ChinaSchool of Humanities and Social Sciences, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, ChinaCollege of Economics and Management, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830047, ChinaGlobal warming has emerged as a serious threat to humans and sustainable development. China is under increasing pressure to curb its carbon emissions as the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide. By combining the Tapio decoupling model and the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) framework, this paper explores the relationship between China’s carbon emissions and economic growth. Based on panel data of 29 provinces from 2007 to 2016, this paper quantitatively estimates the nexus of carbon emissions and economic development for the whole nation and the decoupling status of individual provinces. There is empirical evidence for the conventional EKC hypothesis, showing that the relationship between carbon emissions and per capita gross domestic product (GDP) is an inverted U shape and that the inflection point will not be attained soon. Moreover, following the estimation results of the Tapio decoupling model, there were significant differences between individual provinces in decoupling status. As a result, differentiated and targeted environmental regulations and policies regarding energy consumption and carbon emissions should be reasonably formulated for different provinces and regions based on the corresponding level of economic development and decoupling status.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/12/2411environmental Kuznets curve (EKC)decoupling theorypanel datadifferential GMM estimationTapio decoupling model
spellingShingle Yu Hao
Zirui Huang
Haitao Wu
Do Carbon Emissions and Economic Growth Decouple in China? An Empirical Analysis Based on Provincial Panel Data
Energies
environmental Kuznets curve (EKC)
decoupling theory
panel data
differential GMM estimation
Tapio decoupling model
title Do Carbon Emissions and Economic Growth Decouple in China? An Empirical Analysis Based on Provincial Panel Data
title_full Do Carbon Emissions and Economic Growth Decouple in China? An Empirical Analysis Based on Provincial Panel Data
title_fullStr Do Carbon Emissions and Economic Growth Decouple in China? An Empirical Analysis Based on Provincial Panel Data
title_full_unstemmed Do Carbon Emissions and Economic Growth Decouple in China? An Empirical Analysis Based on Provincial Panel Data
title_short Do Carbon Emissions and Economic Growth Decouple in China? An Empirical Analysis Based on Provincial Panel Data
title_sort do carbon emissions and economic growth decouple in china an empirical analysis based on provincial panel data
topic environmental Kuznets curve (EKC)
decoupling theory
panel data
differential GMM estimation
Tapio decoupling model
url https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/12/2411
work_keys_str_mv AT yuhao docarbonemissionsandeconomicgrowthdecoupleinchinaanempiricalanalysisbasedonprovincialpaneldata
AT ziruihuang docarbonemissionsandeconomicgrowthdecoupleinchinaanempiricalanalysisbasedonprovincialpaneldata
AT haitaowu docarbonemissionsandeconomicgrowthdecoupleinchinaanempiricalanalysisbasedonprovincialpaneldata