IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v243y2022ics036054422102990x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Decoupling and decomposition analysis of CO2 emissions from government spending in China

Author

Listed:
  • Cheng, Shulei
  • Wang, Ping
  • Chen, Boyang
  • Fan, Wei

Abstract

Exploring the role of government spending (GS) in CO2 mitigation is essential for achieving low-carbon development goals; however, the mechanism by which GS affects CO2 emissions remains unclear. The decoupling relationship between GS on energy-savings and environmental protection (GSP) and CO2 emissions in China from 2007 to 2019 was investigated. In addition to evaluating the temporal attribute of the decoupling state, the concept of a dynamic path of the decoupling state was proposed for the first time. Moreover, from the perspective of direct and indirect effects and decoupling elastic factors, the drivers of decoupling elasticity between GSP and CO2 emissions were analysed by developing two non-residual decomposition methods for the Tapio decoupling elastic index. Results based on 30 Chinese provinces showed that these provinces experienced either one or more of the decoupling states: weak, strong, expansive negative, and strong negative decoupling; however, most provinces experienced weak decoupling. Beijing, Tianjin, and Jilin were in the intensive dynamic path of the decoupling state, whereas other provinces remained in the extensive dynamic path. The energy intensity, energy-related carbon intensity, and GS structures of education contributed to the decoupling of GSP from CO2 emissions, however, GS intensity on capital-labour input delayed.

Suggested Citation

  • Cheng, Shulei & Wang, Ping & Chen, Boyang & Fan, Wei, 2022. "Decoupling and decomposition analysis of CO2 emissions from government spending in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:243:y:2022:i:c:s036054422102990x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2021.122741
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S036054422102990X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2021.122741?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Galinato, Gregmar I. & Galinato, Suzette P., 2016. "The effects of government spending on deforestation due to agricultural land expansion and CO2 related emissions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 43-53.
    2. Ang, B. W., 2004. "Decomposition analysis for policymaking in energy:: which is the preferred method?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(9), pages 1131-1139, June.
    3. Xie, Pinjie & Yang, Fan & Mu, Zhuowen & Gao, Shuangshuang, 2020. "Influencing factors of the decoupling relationship between CO2 emission and economic development in China’s power industry," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    4. López, Ramón & Galinato, Gregmar I. & Islam, Asif, 2011. "Fiscal spending and the environment: Theory and empirics," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 180-198, September.
    5. Zhang, Yue-Jun & Da, Ya-Bin, 2015. "The decomposition of energy-related carbon emission and its decoupling with economic growth in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 1255-1266.
    6. Zhang, Bing & Chen, Xiaolan & Guo, Huanxiu, 2018. "Does central supervision enhance local environmental enforcement? Quasi-experimental evidence from China," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 70-90.
    7. Wang, Wenwen & Li, Man & Zhang, Ming, 2017. "Study on the changes of the decoupling indicator between energy-related CO2 emission and GDP in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 11-18.
    8. Zhang, Yue-Jun & Wei, Yi-Ming, 2010. "An overview of current research on EU ETS: Evidence from its operating mechanism and economic effect," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(6), pages 1804-1814, June.
    9. Tapio, Petri, 2005. "Towards a theory of decoupling: degrees of decoupling in the EU and the case of road traffic in Finland between 1970 and 2001," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 12(2), pages 137-151, March.
    10. Yang, Lin & Yang, Yuantao & Zhang, Xian & Tang, Kai, 2018. "Whether China's industrial sectors make efforts to reduce CO2 emissions from production? - A decomposed decoupling analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 796-809.
    11. Diakoulaki, D. & Mandaraka, M., 2007. "Decomposition analysis for assessing the progress in decoupling industrial growth from CO2 emissions in the EU manufacturing sector," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 636-664, July.
    12. Ramón López & Amparo Palacios, 2014. "Why has Europe Become Environmentally Cleaner? Decomposing the Roles of Fiscal, Trade and Environmental Policies," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 58(1), pages 91-108, May.
    13. Jianda Wang & Xiucheng Dong & Kangyin Dong, 2021. "How renewable energy reduces CO2 emissions? Decoupling and decomposition analysis for 25 countries along the Belt and Road," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(40), pages 4597-4613, August.
    14. Chandran Govindaraju, V.G.R. & Tang, Chor Foon, 2013. "The dynamic links between CO2 emissions, economic growth and coal consumption in China and India," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 310-318.
    15. repec:bla:pacecr:v:8:y:2003:i:1:p:15-30 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Adewuyi, Adeolu O., 2016. "Effects of public and private expenditures on environmental pollution: A dynamic heterogeneous panel data analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 489-506.
    17. Yong Yang & Junsong Jia & Chundi Chen, 2020. "Residential Energy-Related CO 2 Emissions in China’s Less Developed Regions: A Case Study of Jiangxi," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-28, March.
    18. Donald B. Marron & Eric J. Toder, 2014. "Tax Policy Issues in Designing a Carbon Tax," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(5), pages 563-568, May.
    19. Chen, Jiandong & Wang, Ping & Cui, Lianbiao & Huang, Shuo & Song, Malin, 2018. "Decomposition and decoupling analysis of CO2 emissions in OECD," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 231(C), pages 937-950.
    20. Ang, B.W & Zhang, F.Q & Choi, Ki-Hong, 1998. "Factorizing changes in energy and environmental indicators through decomposition," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 23(6), pages 489-495.
    21. Gregory C. Chow, 1993. "Capital Formation and Economic Growth in China," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(3), pages 809-842.
    22. Stanek, Wojciech & Czarnowska, Lucyna & Pikoń, Krzysztof & Bogacka, Magdalena, 2015. "Thermo-ecological cost of hard coal with inclusion of the whole life cycle chain," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 92(P3), pages 341-348.
    23. Zhao, Xingrong & Zhang, Xi & Shao, Shuai, 2016. "Decoupling CO2 emissions and industrial growth in China over 1993–2013: The role of investment," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 275-292.
    24. Tu, Qiang & Mo, Jianlei & Betz, Regina & Cui, Lianbiao & Fan, Ying & Liu, Yu, 2020. "Achieving grid parity of solar PV power in China- The role of Tradable Green Certificate," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    25. Höller, Samuel & Viebahn, Peter, 2016. "Facing the uncertainty of CO2 storage capacity in China by developing different storage scenarios," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 64-73.
    26. Duan, Hongbo & Mo, Jianlei & Fan, Ying & Wang, Shouyang, 2018. "Achieving China's energy and climate policy targets in 2030 under multiple uncertainties," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 45-60.
    27. Lin, Boqiang & Jia, Zhijie, 2018. "The energy, environmental and economic impacts of carbon tax rate and taxation industry: A CGE based study in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 558-568.
    28. Chan, Ying Tung, 2020. "Are macroeconomic policies better in curbing air pollution than environmental policies? A DSGE approach with carbon-dependent fiscal and monetary policies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    29. Sugata Ghosh & Trishita Ray Barman & Manash Ranjan Gupta, 2020. "Are short‐term effects of pollution important for growth and optimal fiscal policy?," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 22(5), pages 1262-1288, September.
    30. Tu, Qiang & Betz, Regina & Mo, Jianlei & Fan, Ying & Liu, Yu, 2019. "Achieving grid parity of wind power in China – Present levelized cost of electricity and future evolution," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 250(C), pages 1053-1064.
    31. Halvorsen, Bente & Larsen, Bodil Merethe, 2021. "Identifying drivers for the direct rebound when energy efficiency is unknown. The importance of substitution and scale effects," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    32. Tsai, Wen-Hsien & Lee, Kuen-Chang & Liu, Jau-Yang & Lin, Hsiu-Ling & Chou, Yu-Wei & Lin, Sin-Jin, 2012. "A mixed activity-based costing decision model for green airline fleet planning under the constraints of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 218-226.
    33. Chow, Gregory & Lin, An-loh, 2002. "Accounting for Economic Growth in Taiwan and Mainland China: A Comparative Analysis," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 507-530, September.
    34. Omri, Anis & Afi, Hatem, 2020. "How can entrepreneurship and educational capital lead to environmental sustainability?," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 1-10.
    35. Sun, J. W., 1998. "Changes in energy consumption and energy intensity: A complete decomposition model," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 85-100, February.
    36. Halkos, George E. & Paizanos, Epameinondas Α., 2013. "The effect of government expenditure on the environment:An empirical investigation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 48-56.
    37. Cong Minh Huynh, 2020. "Shadow economy and air pollution in developing Asia: what is the role of fiscal policy?," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 22(3), pages 357-381, July.
    38. Shan, Shan & Ahmad, Munir & Tan, Zhixiong & Adebayo, Tomiwa Sunday & Man Li, Rita Yi & Kirikkaleli, Dervis, 2021. "The role of energy prices and non-linear fiscal decentralization in limiting carbon emissions: Tracking environmental sustainability," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    39. Elliott, Robert J.R. & Sun, Puyang & Zhu, Tong, 2017. "The direct and indirect effect of urbanization on energy intensity: A province-level study for China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 677-692.
    40. Duan, Hongbo & Mo, Jianlei & Fan, Ying & Wang, Shouyang, 2018. "Achieving China's energy and climate policy targets in 2030 under multiple uncertainties," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 86481, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    41. Lu, Qinli & Yang, Hong & Huang, Xianjin & Chuai, Xiaowei & Wu, Changyan, 2015. "Multi-sectoral decomposition in decoupling industrial growth from carbon emissions in the developed Jiangsu Province, China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 414-425.
    42. Qiu, Shuo & Lei, Tian & Wu, Jiangtao & Bi, Shengshan, 2021. "Energy demand and supply planning of China through 2060," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    43. Simon Fan & Yu Pang & Pierre Pestieau, 2020. "A model of the optimal allocation of government expenditures," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 22(4), pages 845-876, August.
    44. Chen, Jiandong & Cheng, Shulei & Song, Malin & Wang, Jia, 2016. "Interregional differences of coal carbon dioxide emissions in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 1-13.
    45. Wang, Qunwei & Hang, Ye & Zhou, P. & Wang, Yizhong, 2016. "Decoupling and attribution analysis of industrial carbon emissions in Taiwan," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 728-738.
    46. Halkos, George E. & Paizanos, Epameinondas A., 2016. "Environmental Macroeconomics: Economic Growth, Fiscal Spending and Environmental Quality," International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, now publishers, vol. 9(3-4), pages 321-362, September.
    47. Alwyn Young, 2003. "Gold into Base Metals: Productivity Growth in the People's Republic of China during the Reform Period," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 111(6), pages 1220-1261, December.
    48. Jia, Zhijie & Lin, Boqiang, 2021. "How to achieve the first step of the carbon-neutrality 2060 target in China: The coal substitution perspective," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    49. Clarke-Sather, Afton & Qu, Jiansheng & Wang, Qin & Zeng, Jingjing & Li, Yan, 2011. "Carbon inequality at the sub-national scale: A case study of provincial-level inequality in CO2 emissions in China 1997-2007," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(9), pages 5420-5428, September.
    50. Gilbert E. Metcalf, 2009. "Market-Based Policy Options to Control U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 23(2), pages 5-27, Spring.
    51. Zhang, Kun & Zhang, Zong-Yong & Liang, Qiao-Mei, 2017. "An empirical analysis of the green paradox in China: From the perspective of fiscal decentralization," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 203-211.
    52. Gupta, Manash Ranjan & Barman, Trishita Ray, 2009. "Fiscal policies, environmental pollution and economic growth," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 1018-1028, September.
    53. Cheng, Shulei & Fan, Wei & Chen, Jiandong & Meng, Fanxin & Liu, Gengyuan & Song, Malin & Yang, Zhifeng, 2020. "The impact of fiscal decentralization on CO2 emissions in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Fan, Wei & Huang, Shasha & Xu, Yiyin & Zhu, Chunxia & Chen, Jiandong, 2023. "Drivers of global energy export dependency: A decomposition analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    2. Yadu Zhang & Yiteng Zhang & Zuoren Sun, 2023. "The Impact of Carbon Emission Trading Policy on Enterprise ESG Performance: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-27, May.
    3. Chen, Jiandong & Li, Yuqing & Xu, Yiyin & Vardanyan, Michael & Shen, Zhiyang & Song, Malin, 2023. "The impact of fiscal technology expenditures on innovation drive and carbon emissions in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    4. Xie, Pinjie & Gong, Ningyu & Sun, Feihu & Li, Pin & Pan, Xianyou, 2023. "What factors contribute to the extent of decoupling economic growth and energy carbon emissions in China?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    5. Yuan Kong & Chao Feng & Liyang Guo, 2022. "Peaking Global and G20 Countries’ CO 2 Emissions under the Shared Socio-Economic Pathways," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-19, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Liang, Wei & Gan, Ting & Zhang, Wei, 2019. "Dynamic evolution of characteristics and decomposition of factors influencing industrial carbon dioxide emissions in China: 1991–2015," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 93-106.
    2. Rui Jiang & Yulin Zhou & Rongrong Li, 2018. "Moving to a Low-Carbon Economy in China: Decoupling and Decomposition Analysis of Emission and Economy from a Sector Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-12, March.
    3. Jingxing Liu & Hailing Li & Tianqi Liu, 2022. "Decoupling Regional Economic Growth from Industrial CO 2 Emissions: Empirical Evidence from the 13 Prefecture-Level Cities in Jiangsu Province," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-20, February.
    4. Leal, Patrícia Alexandra & Marques, António Cardoso & Fuinhas, José Alberto, 2019. "Decoupling economic growth from GHG emissions: Decomposition analysis by sectoral factors for Australia," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 12-26.
    5. Yang, Lin & Yang, Yuantao & Zhang, Xian & Tang, Kai, 2018. "Whether China's industrial sectors make efforts to reduce CO2 emissions from production? - A decomposed decoupling analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 796-809.
    6. Zbigniew Gołaś, 2023. "Decoupling Analysis of Energy-Related Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Economic Growth in Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-27, April.
    7. Zhao, Xingrong & Zhang, Xi & Shao, Shuai, 2016. "Decoupling CO2 emissions and industrial growth in China over 1993–2013: The role of investment," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 275-292.
    8. Chen, Jiandong & Wang, Ping & Cui, Lianbiao & Huang, Shuo & Song, Malin, 2018. "Decomposition and decoupling analysis of CO2 emissions in OECD," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 231(C), pages 937-950.
    9. Wang, Miao & Feng, Chao, 2018. "Investigating the drivers of energy-related CO2 emissions in China’s industrial sector: From regional and provincial perspectives," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 136-147.
    10. Wang, Wenwen & Li, Man & Zhang, Ming, 2017. "Study on the changes of the decoupling indicator between energy-related CO2 emission and GDP in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 11-18.
    11. Fan, Wei & Li, Li & Wang, Feiran & Li, Ding, 2020. "Driving factors of CO2 emission inequality in China: The role of government expenditure," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    12. Weiguo Fan & Mengmeng Meng & Jianchang Lu & Xiaobin Dong & Hejie Wei & Xuechao Wang & Qing Zhang, 2020. "Decoupling Elasticity and Driving Factors of Energy Consumption and Economic Development in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-20, February.
    13. Chen, Jiandong & Cheng, Shulei & Song, Malin, 2017. "Decomposing inequality in energy-related CO2 emissions by source and source increment: The roles of production and residential consumption," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 698-710.
    14. Chen, Jiandong & Cheng, Shulei & Song, Malin & Wang, Jia, 2016. "Interregional differences of coal carbon dioxide emissions in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 1-13.
    15. Wang, Juan & Li, Ziming & Wu, Tong & Wu, Siyu & Yin, Tingwei, 2022. "The decoupling analysis of CO2 emissions from power generation in Chinese provincial power sector," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    16. Román-Collado, Rocío & Cansino, José M. & Botia, Camilo, 2018. "How far is Colombia from decoupling? Two-level decomposition analysis of energy consumption changes," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 687-700.
    17. Hao, Yu & Zhang, Tianli & Jing, Leijie & Xiao, Linqi, 2019. "Would the decoupling of electricity occur along with economic growth? Empirical evidence from the panel data analysis for 100 Chinese cities," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 615-625.
    18. Patiño, Lourdes Isabel & Alcántara, Vicent & Padilla, Emilio, 2021. "Driving forces of CO2 emissions and energy intensity in Colombia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    19. Fan, Wei & Yan, Ling & Chen, Boyang & Ding, Wangwang & Wang, Ping, 2022. "Environmental governance effects of local environmental protection expenditure in China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    20. Chen, Jiandong & Xu, Chong & Cui, Lianbiao & Huang, Shuo & Song, Malin, 2019. "Driving factors of CO2 emissions and inequality characteristics in China: A combined decomposition approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 589-597.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:243:y:2022:i:c:s036054422102990x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.