IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i11p9006-d1162713.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Can the Digitalization Reduce Carbon Emission Intensity?—The Moderating Effects of the Fiscal Decentralization

Author

Listed:
  • Zhao Yang

    (School of International Trade and Economics, University of International Business and Economics, Beijing 100029, China)

Abstract

Carbon emission reduction is the top priority in improving green production efficiency and achieving sustainable development, while digitalization (Digi) is an important engine that drives efficient carbon emission reduction. However, in China, the government and the market jointly influence economic and social development, and the effectiveness of Digi in promoting carbon emission reduction is also influenced by the external fiscal system. In this study, we first establish a theoretical framework for digitalization that can reduce carbon emission intensity (CEI) and reveal the important role of fiscal decentralization (FD) on the impact of Digi on CEI and is based on the typical features of the Chinese FD system. Second, we investigate the relationship between Digi and CEI and the moderating effect of FD based on panel data from 30 Chinese provinces from 2011 to 2019, and we utilize a fixed-effects panel model that introduces moderating variables and a panel threshold model. By testing the econometric model, we observe that increasing the level of Digi significantly reduces CEI. FD reinforces this reduction effect, and Digi has a significant dampening effect on CEI only when the level of FD is higher than 0.84. Additionally, the inhibitory effect of Digi and positive moderating effect of FD are higher in the central and western regions of China. Finally, we suggest countermeasures to promote low-carbon development for accelerating digital transformation, thereby deepening the reform of “delegating power, improving regulation, and optimizing service” systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhao Yang, 2023. "Can the Digitalization Reduce Carbon Emission Intensity?—The Moderating Effects of the Fiscal Decentralization," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-16, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:11:p:9006-:d:1162713
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/11/9006/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/11/9006/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ehigiamusoe, Kizito Uyi & Dogan, Eyup, 2022. "The role of interaction effect between renewable energy consumption and real income in carbon emissions: Evidence from low-income countries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    2. Dalton, Michael & O'Neill, Brian & Prskawetz, Alexia & Jiang, Leiwen & Pitkin, John, 2008. "Population aging and future carbon emissions in the United States," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 642-675, March.
    3. Wang, Wei-Zheng & Liu, Lan-Cui & Liao, Hua & Wei, Yi-Ming, 2021. "Impacts of urbanization on carbon emissions: An empirical analysis from OECD countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    4. Yulan Lv & Yumeng Pang & Buhari Doğan, 2022. "The role of Chinese fiscal decentralization in the governance of carbon emissions: perspectives from spatial effects decomposition and its heterogeneity," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 68(3), pages 635-668, June.
    5. Wang, Keying & Wu, Meng & Sun, Yongping & Shi, Xunpeng & Sun, Ao & Zhang, Ping, 2019. "Resource abundance, industrial structure, and regional carbon emissions efficiency in China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 203-214.
    6. Justin Yifu Lin & Zhiqiang Liu, 2000. "Fiscal Decentralization and Economic Growth in China," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 49(1), pages 1-21.
    7. Zhou, Xiaoyong & Zhou, Dequn & Wang, Qunwei & Su, Bin, 2019. "How information and communication technology drives carbon emissions: A sector-level analysis for China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 380-392.
    8. Hazwan Haini, 2021. "Examining the impact of ICT, human capital and carbon emissions: Evidence from the ASEAN economies," International Economics, CEPII research center, issue 166, pages 116-125.
    9. Zhichuan Zhu & Bo Liu & Zhuoxi Yu & Jianhong Cao, 2022. "Effects of the Digital Economy on Carbon Emissions: Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-21, August.
    10. Wang, Jianda & Dong, Xiucheng & Dong, Kangyin, 2022. "How does ICT agglomeration affect carbon emissions? The case of Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    11. Li, Jun & Zhang, Dayong & Su, Bin, 2019. "The Impact of Social Awareness and Lifestyles on Household Carbon Emissions in China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 145-155.
    12. Zhang, Fan & Deng, Xiangzheng & Phillips, Fred & Fang, Chuanglin & Wang, Chao, 2020. "Impacts of industrial structure and technical progress on carbon emission intensity: Evidence from 281 cities in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    13. Zhang, Yue-Jun, 2011. "The impact of financial development on carbon emissions: An empirical analysis in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 2197-2203, April.
    14. Sailian Xia & Daming You & Zhihua Tang & Bo Yang, 2021. "Analysis of the Spatial Effect of Fiscal Decentralization and Environmental Decentralization on Carbon Emissions under the Pressure of Officials’ Promotion," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-21, March.
    15. Gao, Yuning & Li, Meng & Xue, Jinjun & Liu, Yu, 2020. "Evaluation of effectiveness of China's carbon emissions trading scheme in carbon mitigation," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    16. Yi, Ming & Liu, Yafen & Sheng, Mingyue Selena & Wen, Le, 2022. "Effects of digital economy on carbon emission reduction: New evidence from China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    17. Sharp, Anne & Wheeler, Meagan, 2013. "Reducing householders’ grocery carbon emissions: Carbon literacy and carbon label preferences," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 240-249.
    18. Moyer, Jonathan D. & Hughes, Barry B., 2012. "ICTs: Do they contribute to increased carbon emissions?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 79(5), pages 919-931.
    19. Dong, Zhaoyingzi & Xia, Chuyu & Fang, Kai & Zhang, Weiwen, 2022. "Effect of the carbon emissions trading policy on the co-benefits of carbon emissions reduction and air pollution control," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    20. Xia Chen & Jianmin Liu, 2020. "Fiscal Decentralization and Environmental Pollution: A Spatial Analysis," Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society, Hindawi, vol. 2020, pages 1-10, March.
    21. Sverker C. Jagers & Åsa Löfgren & Johannes Stripple, 2010. "Attitudes to personal carbon allowances: political trust, fairness and ideology," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(4), pages 410-431, July.
    22. Zheng, Jiali & Mi, Zhifu & Coffman, D'Maris & Milcheva, Stanimira & Shan, Yuli & Guan, Dabo & Wang, Shouyang, 2019. "Regional development and carbon emissions in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 25-36.
    23. Xuan Chang & Jinye Li, 2022. "Effects of the Digital Economy on Carbon Emissions in China: A Spatial Durbin Econometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-20, December.
    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. Yingzi Chen & Wanwan Yang & Yaqi Hu, 2022. "Internet Development, Consumption Upgrading and Carbon Emissions—An Empirical Study from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-23, December.
    2. Wang, Jianda & Dong, Kangyin & Dong, Xiucheng & Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad, 2022. "Assessing the digital economy and its carbon-mitigation effects: The case of China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    3. Ruiyuan Dong & Xiaowei Zhou, 2023. "Analysis of the Nonlinear and Spatial Spillover Effects of the Digital Economy on Carbon Emissions in the Yellow River Basin," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-18, March.
    4. Wang, Lianghu & Shao, Jun, 2023. "Digital economy, entrepreneurship and energy efficiency," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    5. Balsalobre-Lorente, Daniel & Abbas, Jaffar & He, Chang & Pilař, Ladislav & Shah, Syed Ale Raza, 2023. "Tourism, urbanization and natural resources rents matter for environmental sustainability: The leading role of AI and ICT on sustainable development goals in the digital era," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    6. Senhua Huang & Lingming Chen, 2023. "The Impact of the Digital Economy on the Urban Total-Factor Energy Efficiency: Evidence from 275 Cities in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-20, February.
    7. Zheng, Li & Yuan, Ling & Khan, Zeeshan & Badeeb, Ramez Abubakr & Zhang, Leilei, 2023. "How G-7 countries are paving the way for net-zero emissions through energy efficient ecosystem?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    8. Geng Peng & Yixuan Tang & Kaiyou Tian, 2023. "Understanding the Nonlinear Impact of Information and Communication Technology on Carbon Emissions in the Logistics Industry of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-22, September.
    9. Wang, Lei & Chen, Yangyang & Ramsey, Thomas Stephen & Hewings, Geoffrey J.D., 2021. "Will researching digital technology really empower green development?," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    10. Zhang, Zhouyi & Song, Yi & Cheng, Jinhua & Zhang, Yijun, 2023. "Effects of heterogeneous ICT on critical metal supply: A differentiated perspective on primary and secondary supply," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    11. Wang, Jen Chun, 2022. "Understanding the energy consumption of information and communications equipment: A case study of schools in Taiwan," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 249(C).
    12. Pingguo Xu & Leyi Chen & Huajuan Dai, 2022. "Pathways to Sustainable Development: Corporate Digital Transformation and Environmental Performance in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-21, December.
    13. Raihan, Asif, 2023. "Economy-energy-environment nexus: The role of information and communication technology towards green development in Malaysia," Innovation and Green Development, Elsevier, vol. 2(4).
    14. Lin Zhang & Jinyan Chen & Faustino Dinis & Sha Wei & Chengzhi Cai, 2022. "Decoupling Effect, Driving Factors and Prediction Analysis of Agricultural Carbon Emission Reduction and Product Supply Guarantee in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-22, December.
    15. Yuqing Jin & Zhidan Shen & Jianxu Liu & Roengchai Tansuchat, 2023. "The Impact of the Digital Economy on the Health Industry from the Perspective of Threshold and Intermediary Effects: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-25, July.
    16. Qiuqiu Guo & Xiaoyu Ma, 2023. "How Does the Digital Economy Affect Sustainable Urban Development? Empirical Evidence from Chinese Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-21, February.
    17. Shouwu Jing & Feijie Wu & Enyi Shi & Xinhui Wu & Minzhe Du, 2023. "Does the Digital Economy Promote the Reduction of Urban Carbon Emission Intensity?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-22, February.
    18. Yu Ma & Pan Tao, 2023. "A Perspective on Management Myopia: The Impact of Digital Transformation on Carbon Emission Intensity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-22, June.
    19. Li, Yaya & Zhang, Yun, 2023. "What is the role of green ICT innovation in lowering carbon emissions in China? A provincial-level analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(PA).
    20. Huang, Chaoqun & Liu, Weibai & Iqbal, Wasim & Shah, Syed Ale Raza, 2024. "Does digital governance matter for environmental sustainability? The key challenges and opportunities under the prism of natural resource management," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).

    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:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:11:p:9006-:d:1162713. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.