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Does Economic Policy Uncertainty Affect CO 2 Emissions? Empirical Evidence from the United States

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  • Qing Wang

    (Department of Finance, Economics and Management School, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China)

  • Kefeng Xiao

    (Economics and Management School, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China)

  • Zhou Lu

    (School of Business, Tianjin University of Commerce, Tianjin 300134, China)

Abstract

This paper aims to examine the effects of economic policy uncertainty (measured by the World Uncertainty Index—WUI) on the level of CO 2 emissions in the United States for the period from 1960 to 2016. For this purpose, we consider the unit root test with structural breaks and the autoregressive-distributed lag (ARDL) model. We find that the per capita income promotes CO 2 emissions in the long run. Similarly, the WUI measures are positively associated with CO 2 emissions in the long run. Energy prices negatively affect CO 2 emissions both in the short run and the long run. Possible implications of climate change are also discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Qing Wang & Kefeng Xiao & Zhou Lu, 2020. "Does Economic Policy Uncertainty Affect CO 2 Emissions? Empirical Evidence from the United States," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-11, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:21:p:9108-:d:438815
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    7. Isaac Appiah-Otoo & Xudong Chen, 2023. "Russian-Ukrainian war degrades the total environment," Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 1-17, December.
    8. Jun, Xiao & Huang, Wenwei & Guo, Yiting & Cao, Yuqiang & Lu, Meiting, 2023. "Why does economic policy uncertainty increase firm-level pollutant emission?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
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    10. Wang, Kai-Hua & Zhao, Yan-Xin & Su, Yun Hsuan & Lobonţ, Oana-Ramona, 2023. "Energy security and CO2 emissions: New evidence from time-varying and quantile-varying aspects," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 273(C).
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