CO2 Emissions and Economic Growth in China: An Estimation of the Environmental Kuznets Curve Open Access

Abstract

Using provincial carbon dioxide emissions data, commercial coal consumption data and regional gross product data for 31 provinces in China from 1996 to 2015, I adopt a panel approach with fixed effect to examine the relationship between CO2 emissions and economic development. This paper tests the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis, which suggests that the relationship between carbon emissions and economic development should be inverted U-shaped. My results suggest that this relationship does hold. Moreover, by using the first-order condition, I calculate the turning point and find that Beijing and Tianjin have crossed the inflection point and entered the later stage where the carbon emissions decrease with economic development. However, the majority of provinces are still in the early stage of development. Thus, it is crucial for the government to promote the usage of renewable energy and to facilitate environmental protection.

Table of Contents

I.  Introduction.................................................................................................................................1

II. Literature Review........................................................................................................................3

III. Data and Methods......................................................................................................................7

IV. Empirical Results and Analysis.................................................................................................9

V. Conclusions and Implications...................................................................................................17

 

Figure 1: Long-run relationship between CO2 emissions and GDP..............................................12

Figure 2: Per capita GRP and CO2 emissions for 31 provinces from 1997 to 2015......................13

Figure 3: Total per capita CO2 emissions in China, from 1997 to 2015........................................13

Figure 4: Per capita CO2 emissions in Inner Mongolia, from 1997 to 2015.................................15

Figure 5: Per capita CO2 emissions in Xinjiang, from 1997 to 2015. ..........................................15

Figure 6: Per capita CO2 emissions in Shanxi, from 1997 to 2015. ..........................................16

Figure 7: Per capita CO2 emissions in Beijing, from 1997 to 2015. ..........................................16

 

Table 1: Summary statistics of variables.........................................................................................9

Table 2: Empirical results with regular standard error..................................................................10

 

Table 3: Empirical results with robust standard error....................................................................10

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	Economics and Mathematics
Degree	B.A.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Economics, Environmental Environmental Studies
Keyword	China GDP economics carbon dioxide Environmental Kuznets Curve CO2 carbon emissions
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Yue, Zhanwei, Emory University
Committee Members	Donaher, Shaunna, Emory University Roth, Robert, Emory University Liu, Ruixuan, Emory University

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