The nonlinear relationship between resource endowments and carbon emissions: threshold effects of marketization degree and urban services agglomeration

With increasing carbon emissions, previous studies surrounding the relationship between resources and carbon emissions mainly focus on the linear framework. However, there are countries with high resource endowments and low carbon emissions, which can’t be explained by the linear framework. Therefore, this study revisits this issue from the perspective of curvilinear threshold model using data of 56 COP26 member countries from 2002 to 2021. Results show that the association between resource endowments and carbon emissions is curvilinear based on two threshold variables: marketization degree and urban services agglomeration. Before they reach certain levels, resource endowments aggravate carbon emissions. After that, resource endowments help carbon reduction. Unlike previous studies that hold resource endowments aggravate emissions, this study finds a condition where resource endowments help sustainable environmental growth. This study also finds that the two threshold variables change with different levels of environmental regulations, R&D expenditures, and enterprise information disclosure. The more favourable these three factors create an easier path to take advantage of resources to reduce carbon emissions. Accordingly, this study recommends enhancing marketization degree and urban services agglomeration to cross the threshold value, and formulating related policies based on countries’ conditions with regards to the three moderate factors.