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Reversing environmental deterioration: the role of human capital in developing countries

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  • Anastasia Chondrogianni

    (George Washington University)

  • Pinelopi Tsalaporta

    (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
    Bank of Greece)

Abstract

Mitigating environmental deterioration and curbing CO2 emissions has moved center stage in policy debate and academic research. Employing data from 14 developing countries with a large share of carbon emissions at a global scale, we examine the effect of human capital on environmental deterioration over the period 1980 to 2019. We account for human capital by focusing on current education expenditure to offer a better insight into the role of policy making in averting environmental deterioration in developing countries. Results show that human capital advancement is robustly associated with reductions in CO2 emissions. We additionally provide a comprehensive analysis of the human capital-environmental deterioration nexus along the conditional distribution by employing the Machado and Silva (J Econom 213(1):145–173, 2019) estimation method of quantile regressions with fixed effects. Human capital is affecting CO2 emissions negatively and statistically significantly across the distribution, except for the upper tail.

Suggested Citation

  • Anastasia Chondrogianni & Pinelopi Tsalaporta, 2023. "Reversing environmental deterioration: the role of human capital in developing countries," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 1585-1599, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:ecopln:v:56:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1007_s10644-022-09475-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s10644-022-09475-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    6. Azer Dilanchiev & Bobur Urinov & Sugra Humbatova & Gunay Panahova, 2024. "Catalyzing climate change mitigation: investigating the influence of renewable energy investments across BRICS," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 1-32, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Human capital; CO2 emissions; Developing countries; Panel quantile regression estimation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F64 - International Economics - - Economic Impacts of Globalization - - - Environment
    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth
    • Q43 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Energy and the Macroeconomy
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • C33 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • O50 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - General

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