IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/tefoso/v146y2019icp297-303.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do green technology innovations contribute to carbon dioxide emission reduction? Empirical evidence from patent data

Author

Listed:
  • Du, Kerui
  • Li, Pengzhen
  • Yan, Zheming

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of green technology innovations on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions based on a data panel covering 71 economies from 1996 to 2012. Specifically, we examine whether the level of income matters for the effect of green technology innovations. It is found that the impact of green technology innovations exists a single threshold effect regarding the income level. Specifically, green technology innovations do not significantly contribute to reducing CO2 emissions for the economies whose income levels are below the threshold while the mitigation effect becomes significant for those whose income levels surpass the threshold. But the transition of regime occurs at an extremely high-income level. In addition, we find that the relationship between per capita CO2 emissions and per capita GDP is inverted U-shaped, and urbanization level, industrial structure, trade openness, and energy consumption structure also significantly affect CO2 emissions. Finally, this paper suggests that mechanism innovations should be implemented to reduce the diffusion cost of green technology in undeveloped economies.

Suggested Citation

  • Du, Kerui & Li, Pengzhen & Yan, Zheming, 2019. "Do green technology innovations contribute to carbon dioxide emission reduction? Empirical evidence from patent data," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 297-303.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:146:y:2019:i:c:p:297-303
    DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2019.06.010
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162518306176
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.techfore.2019.06.010?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. Seow, Yingying & Goffin, Nicholas & Rahimifard, Shahin & Woolley, Elliot, 2016. "A ‘Design for Energy Minimization’ approach to reduce energy consumption during the manufacturing phase," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 894-905.
    2. Hansen, Bruce E., 1999. "Threshold effects in non-dynamic panels: Estimation, testing, and inference," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 345-368, December.
    3. Grossman, G.M & Krueger, A.B., 1991. "Environmental Impacts of a North American Free Trade Agreement," Papers 158, Princeton, Woodrow Wilson School - Public and International Affairs.
    4. David Popp, 2012. "The Role of Technological Change in Green Growth," NBER Working Papers 18506, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Esteve, Vicente & Tamarit, Cecilio, 2012. "Threshold cointegration and nonlinear adjustment between CO2 and income: The Environmental Kuznets Curve in Spain, 1857–2007," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 2148-2156.
    6. Acemoglu, Daron & Gancia, Gino & Zilibotti, Fabrizio, 2012. "Competing engines of growth: Innovation and standardization," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 147(2), pages 570-601.3.
    7. Wang, Zhaohua & Yang, Zhongmin & Zhang, Yixiang & Yin, Jianhua, 2012. "Energy technology patents–CO2 emissions nexus: An empirical analysis from China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 248-260.
    8. Tucker, Michael, 1995. "Carbon dioxide emissions and global GDP," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 215-223, December.
    9. Du, Limin & Wei, Chu & Cai, Shenghua, 2012. "Economic development and carbon dioxide emissions in China: Provincial panel data analysis," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 371-384.
    10. Jin, Peizhen & Peng, Chong & Song, Malin, 2019. "Macroeconomic uncertainty, high-level innovation, and urban green development performance in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 1-18.
    11. Yang, Guangfei & Sun, Tao & Wang, Jianliang & Li, Xianneng, 2015. "Modeling the nexus between carbon dioxide emissions and economic growth," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 104-117.
    12. Li, Ke & Lin, Boqiang, 2015. "Impacts of urbanization and industrialization on energy consumption/CO2 emissions: Does the level of development matter?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 1107-1122.
    13. Capellán-Pérez, Iñigo & Mediavilla, Margarita & de Castro, Carlos & Carpintero, Óscar & Miguel, Luis Javier, 2014. "Fossil fuel depletion and socio-economic scenarios: An integrated approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 641-666.
    14. Lean, Hooi Hooi & Smyth, Russell, 2010. "CO2 emissions, electricity consumption and output in ASEAN," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(6), pages 1858-1864, June.
    15. Zhang, Ning & Wang, Bing & Liu, Zhu, 2016. "Carbon emissions dynamics, efficiency gains, and technological innovation in China's industrial sectors," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 10-19.
    16. Wang, Miao & Feng, Chao, 2017. "Analysis of energy-related CO2 emissions in China’s mining industry: Evidence and policy implications," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 77-87.
    17. Su, Hsin-Ning & Moaniba, Igam M., 2017. "Does innovation respond to climate change? Empirical evidence from patents and greenhouse gas emissions," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 49-62.
    18. Ahmed, Mumtaz & Khan, Atif Maqbool & Bibi, Salma & Zakaria, Muhammad, 2017. "Convergence of per capita CO2 emissions across the globe: Insights via wavelet analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 86-97.
    19. Popp, David, 2012. "The role of technological change in green growth," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6239, The World Bank.
    20. Hasan, Iftekhar & Tucci, Christopher L., 2010. "The innovation-economic growth nexus: Global evidence," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 1264-1276, December.
    21. Stokey, Nancy L, 1998. "Are There Limits to Growth?," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 39(1), pages 1-31, February.
    22. Roger Perman & David I. Stern, 2003. "Evidence from panel unit root and cointegration tests that the Environmental Kuznets Curve does not exist," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 47(3), pages 325-347, September.
    23. Rashid Gill, Abid & Viswanathan, Kuperan K. & Hassan, Sallahuddin, 2018. "The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) and the environmental problem of the day," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P2), pages 1636-1642.
    24. Adam Jaffe & Richard Newell & Robert Stavins, 2002. "Environmental Policy and Technological Change," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 22(1), pages 41-70, June.
    25. Song, Malin & Wang, Shuhong & Sun, Jing, 2018. "Environmental regulations, staff quality, green technology, R&D efficiency, and profit in manufacturing," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 1-14.
    26. Yu, Yanni & Qian, Tao & Du, Limin, 2017. "Carbon productivity growth, technological innovation, and technology gap change of coal-fired power plants in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 479-487.
    27. Yan, Zheming & Du, Keru & Yang, Zhiming & Deng, Min, 2017. "Convergence or divergence? Understanding the global development trend of low-carbon technologies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 499-509.
    28. Kahia, Montassar & Ben Aïssa, Mohamed Safouane & Charfeddine, Lanouar, 2016. "Impact of renewable and non-renewable energy consumption on economic growth: New evidence from the MENA Net Oil Exporting Countries (NOECs)," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 116(P1), pages 102-115.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Du, Kerui & Li, Jianglong, 2019. "Towards a green world: How do green technology innovations affect total-factor carbon productivity," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 240-250.
    2. Xu, Le & Fan, Meiting & Yang, Lili & Shao, Shuai, 2021. "Heterogeneous green innovations and carbon emission performance: Evidence at China's city level," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    3. Charfeddine, Lanouar & Mrabet, Zouhair, 2017. "The impact of economic development and social-political factors on ecological footprint: A panel data analysis for 15 MENA countries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 138-154.
    4. Song, Yanwu & Zhang, Jinrui & Song, Yingkang & Fan, Xinran & Zhu, Yuqing & Zhang, Chen, 2020. "Can industry-university-research collaborative innovation efficiency reduce carbon emissions?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    5. Huaide Wen & Jun Dai, 2021. "Green Technological Progress and the Backwardness Advantage of Green Development: Taking the Sustainable Development Strategy of Central and Western China as an Example," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-17, July.
    6. Lin, Boqiang & Li, Zheng, 2022. "Towards world's low carbon development: The role of clean energy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 307(C).
    7. Roxana Pincheira & Felipe Zuniga & Pablo Neudorfer, 2021. "Carbon Kuznets curve: a dynamic empirical approach for a panel data," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(4), pages 5523-5541, December.
    8. Roxana Pincheira & Felipe Zuniga, 2021. "Environmental Kuznets curve bibliographic map: a systematic literature review," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(S1), pages 1931-1956, April.
    9. Zheming Yan & Lan Yi & Kerui Du & Zhiming Yang, 2017. "Impacts of Low-Carbon Innovation and Its Heterogeneous Components on CO 2 Emissions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-14, April.
    10. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Haouas, Ilham & Hoang, Thi Hong Van, 2019. "Economic growth and environmental degradation in Vietnam: Is the environmental Kuznets curve a complete picture?," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 197-218.
    11. Muhammad Shahbaz & Avik Sinha, 2019. "Environmental Kuznets curve for CO2emissions: a literature survey," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 46(1), pages 106-168, January.
    12. Zeng, Shihong & Li, Tengfei & Wu, Shaomin & Gao, Weijun & Li, Gen, 2024. "Does green technology progress have a significant impact on carbon dioxide emissions?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    13. Yan, Zheming & Du, Keru & Yang, Zhiming & Deng, Min, 2017. "Convergence or divergence? Understanding the global development trend of low-carbon technologies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 499-509.
    14. Leitão, João & Ferreira, Joaquim & Santibanez-González, Ernesto, 2022. "New insights into decoupling economic growth, technological progress and carbon dioxide emissions: Evidence from 40 countries," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    15. Gorus, Muhammed Sehid & Aslan, Murat, 2019. "Impacts of economic indicators on environmental degradation: Evidence from MENA countries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 259-268.
    16. Ozcan, Burcu, 2013. "The nexus between carbon emissions, energy consumption and economic growth in Middle East countries: A panel data analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 1138-1147.
    17. Zheng-Xin Wang & Peng Hao & Pei-Yi Yao, 2017. "Non-Linear Relationship between Economic Growth and CO 2 Emissions in China: An Empirical Study Based on Panel Smooth Transition Regression Models," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-11, December.
    18. Khadiga Mohamed El-Aasar & Shaimaa A. Hanafy, 2018. "Investigating the Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis in Egypt: The Role of Renewable Energy and Trade in Mitigating GHGs," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 8(3), pages 177-184.
    19. Xin, Daleng & Ahmad, Manzoor & Lei, Hong & Khattak, Shoukat Iqbal, 2021. "Do innovation in environmental-related technologies asymmetrically affect carbon dioxide emissions in the United States?," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    20. Olimpia Neagu & Mircea Constantin Teodoru, 2019. "The Relationship between Economic Complexity, Energy Consumption Structure and Greenhouse Gas Emission: Heterogeneous Panel Evidence from the EU Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-29, January.

    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:tefoso:v:146:y:2019:i:c:p:297-303. 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.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00401625 .

    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.