IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v318y2025ics0360544225004621.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Better e-commerce less carbon emissions in China?

Author

Listed:
  • Liu, Xuyi
  • Cui, Wentian
  • Zhang, Shun

Abstract

E-commerce, the fastest growing industry, has had a significant influence on global carbon emissions. The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the nexus of e-commerce and CO2 emissions by using 30 provincial panel data in China from 2011 to 2021. We construct generalized method of moments (GMM) with five control variables and two mediating variables. Benchmark regression based on difference and system-GMM proves that the prosperity of e-commerce can inhibit the expansion of CO2 emissions. In addition, the heterogeneity analysis based on regional division shows that e-commerce in the Eastern provinces inhibits carbon emissions more than in the Central and Western provinces or those provinces excluding municipalities. The mediating effects of energy intensity and technological innovation indicate that e-commerce can suppress carbon emissions by both decreasing energy intensity and increasing technological innovation. Based on the estimated findings, policymakers can promote the sustainable green development of the e-commerce industry through policy support, technological innovation, efficient energy use, subregional strategies, and international cooperation.

Suggested Citation

  • Liu, Xuyi & Cui, Wentian & Zhang, Shun, 2025. "Better e-commerce less carbon emissions in China?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 318(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:318:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225004621
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2025.134820
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544225004621
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2025.134820?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.

    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:318:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225004621. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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.