A General Cross-Country Panel Analysis for the Effects of Capitals and Energy, on Economic Growth and Carbon Dioxide Emissions

To clarify the effects of generalized capitals and energy footprint on aggregate incomes and total carbon dioxide emissions, a cross-country panel analysis is applied in the present study. The generalized capitals included in this study are human capital, manufacture capital, natural capitals (as rents of fossil fuels, forest, and minerals). The energy footprint is represented by the primary energy consumption to index the overall domestic energy use. A Cobb–Douglas production function is used to empirically study on a panel of 21 European Union countries. Annual data of rents of natural capitals are used to represent the economic value of natural capitals that flows to the economy. The following are the main findings of this study: (1) Employing human and manufactural capital makes contributions to income growth and carbon reduction. This study’s evidence guides to clarify the misunderstanding of capital and capitalism. Innovations through well-developed and well-managed human and manufactured capital can help sustain income and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. (2) Energy footprint is the vital determinant to total carbon dioxide emissions and hence the most important part of climate policy. (3) The value currently commeasured by monetary terms and compiled by the World Bank is evidenced, not persistently contributed to the income, rather contributed to total carbon dioxide emissions, for the sake of the energy-intensive attributes in the resource-extracting industry. The natural capitals represented by the rent of extracting endowed natural resources can only represent part of the value of natural capitals to human beings. The virtue values of natural capitals in terms of amenity and life supporting are inevitable, but intangible and hence incommensurable. This value is still ignored and unable to enter the contemporary gate of monetary national accounting system.