The effect of human capital on CO2 emissions: Macro evidence from China

We study the effect of human capital on CO2 emissions using the Chinese provincial panel over the period 1997–2016. Allowing for cross-sectional dependence and structural breaks, we find a negative association between human capital and CO2 emissions in the long run and attribute it to the influences...

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Main Authors: Yao, Yao, Zhang, Lin, Salim, Ruhul, Rafiq, Shuddhaswatta
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2020
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/82036
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author Yao, Yao
Zhang, Lin
Salim, Ruhul
Rafiq, Shuddhaswatta
author_facet Yao, Yao
Zhang, Lin
Salim, Ruhul
Rafiq, Shuddhaswatta
author_sort Yao, Yao
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description We study the effect of human capital on CO2 emissions using the Chinese provincial panel over the period 1997–2016. Allowing for cross-sectional dependence and structural breaks, we find a negative association between human capital and CO2 emissions in the long run and attribute it to the influences from younger workers and workers with advanced human capital. In particular, our results suggest that a one-year increase in average schooling reduces CO2 emissions by 12 per cent. Using disaggregated emission dataset by energy sources and end emitters, we demonstrate this negative association is likely to manifest through technology effect and the improvement in energy efficiency. These manifestations are limited to production sector. Our finding suggests a promising avenue for abating greenhouse gases without impeding economic growth.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T11:19:43Z
publishDate 2020
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-820362024-05-24T09:29:45Z The effect of human capital on CO2 emissions: Macro evidence from China Yao, Yao Zhang, Lin Salim, Ruhul Rafiq, Shuddhaswatta We study the effect of human capital on CO2 emissions using the Chinese provincial panel over the period 1997–2016. Allowing for cross-sectional dependence and structural breaks, we find a negative association between human capital and CO2 emissions in the long run and attribute it to the influences from younger workers and workers with advanced human capital. In particular, our results suggest that a one-year increase in average schooling reduces CO2 emissions by 12 per cent. Using disaggregated emission dataset by energy sources and end emitters, we demonstrate this negative association is likely to manifest through technology effect and the improvement in energy efficiency. These manifestations are limited to production sector. Our finding suggests a promising avenue for abating greenhouse gases without impeding economic growth. 2020 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/82036 10.5547/01956574.42.6.yyao fulltext
spellingShingle Yao, Yao
Zhang, Lin
Salim, Ruhul
Rafiq, Shuddhaswatta
The effect of human capital on CO2 emissions: Macro evidence from China
title The effect of human capital on CO2 emissions: Macro evidence from China
title_full The effect of human capital on CO2 emissions: Macro evidence from China
title_fullStr The effect of human capital on CO2 emissions: Macro evidence from China
title_full_unstemmed The effect of human capital on CO2 emissions: Macro evidence from China
title_short The effect of human capital on CO2 emissions: Macro evidence from China
title_sort effect of human capital on co2 emissions: macro evidence from china
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/82036