IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/ecopln/v56y2023i3d10.1007_s10644-022-09475-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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

Author

Listed:
  • 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
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10644-022-09475-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10644-022-09475-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Démurger, Sylvie & Fournier, Martin, 2011. "Poverty and firewood consumption: A case study of rural households in northern China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 512-523.
    2. Salim, Ruhul & Yao, Yao & Chen, George S., 2017. "Does human capital matter for energy consumption in China?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 49-59.
    3. Yao, Yao & Ivanovski, Kris & Inekwe, John & Smyth, Russell, 2019. "Human capital and energy consumption: Evidence from OECD countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    4. Yao, Yao & Ivanovski, Kris & Inekwe, John & Smyth, Russell, 2020. "Human capital and CO2 emissions in the long run," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    5. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Song, Malin & Ahmad, Shabbir & Vo, Xuan Vinh, 2022. "Does economic growth stimulate energy consumption? The role of human capital and R&D expenditures in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    6. Fang, Zheng & Chang, Youngho, 2016. "Energy, human capital and economic growth in Asia Pacific countries — Evidence from a panel cointegration and causality analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 177-184.
    7. Machado, José A.F. & Santos Silva, J.M.C., 2019. "Quantiles via moments," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 213(1), pages 145-173.
    8. Mincer, Jacob, 1984. "Human capital and economic growth," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 3(3), pages 195-205, June.
    9. Philippe Aghion & Richard Blundell & Rachel Griffith & Peter Howitt & Susanne Prantl, 2009. "The Effects of Entry on Incumbent Innovation and Productivity," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 91(1), pages 20-32, February.
    10. Hondroyiannis, George & Papapetrou, Evangelia & Tsalaporta, Pinelopi, 2022. "New insights on the contribution of human capital to environmental degradation: Evidence from heterogeneous and cross-correlated countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    11. Ivan A. Canay, 2011. "A simple approach to quantile regression for panel data," Econometrics Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 14(3), pages 368-386, October.
    12. Koenker, Roger, 2004. "Quantile regression for longitudinal data," Journal of Multivariate Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 74-89, October.
    13. Robert J. Barro, 1991. "Economic Growth in a Cross Section of Countries," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(2), pages 407-443.
    14. Huang, Bwo-Nung & Hwang, M.J. & Yang, C.W., 2008. "Causal relationship between energy consumption and GDP growth revisited: A dynamic panel data approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 41-54, August.
    15. Muhammad Kamran Khan & Hai Hong Trinh & Ikram Ullah Khan & Subhan Ullah, 2022. "Sustainable economic activities, climate change, and carbon risk: an international evidence," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(7), pages 9642-9664, July.
    16. Wang, You & Gong, Xu, 2020. "Does financial development have a non-linear impact on energy consumption? Evidence from 30 provinces in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    17. Broadstock, David C. & Li, Jiajia & Zhang, Dayong, 2016. "Efficiency snakes and energy ladders: A (meta-)frontier demand analysis of electricity consumption efficiency in Chinese households," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 383-396.
    18. Pachauri, Shonali & Jiang, Leiwen, 2008. "The household energy transition in India and China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 4022-4035, November.
    19. Dogan, Eyup & Altinoz, Buket & Madaleno, Mara & Taskin, Dilvin, 2020. "The impact of renewable energy consumption to economic growth: A replication and extension of Inglesi-Lotz (2016)," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    20. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Gozgor, Giray & Hammoudeh, Shawkat, 2019. "Human capital and export diversification as new determinants of energy demand in the United States," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 335-349.
    21. Lucas, Robert Jr., 1988. "On the mechanics of economic development," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 3-42, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ahakwa, Isaac & Xu, Yi & Tackie, Evelyn Agba, 2023. "Greening human capital towards environmental quality in Ghana: Insight from the novel dynamic ARDL simulation approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    2. Jahanger, Atif & Hossain, Mohammad Razib & Usman, Muhammad & Chukwuma Onwe, Joshua, 2023. "Recent scenario and nexus between natural resource dependence, energy use and pollution cycles in BRICS region: Does the mediating role of human capital exist?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).

    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. Hondroyiannis, George & Papapetrou, Evangelia & Tsalaporta, Pinelopi, 2022. "New insights on the contribution of human capital to environmental degradation: Evidence from heterogeneous and cross-correlated countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    2. Yiping Gao & Rong Yuan & Shenglin Zheng, 2022. "Effects of Human Capital on Energy Consumption: The Role of Income Inequality," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-17, December.
    3. Awaworyi Churchill, Sefa & Inekwe, John & Ivanovski, Kris & Smyth, Russell, 2023. "Human capital and energy consumption: Six centuries of evidence from the United Kingdom," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    4. Yao, Yao & Ivanovski, Kris & Inekwe, John & Smyth, Russell, 2019. "Human capital and energy consumption: Evidence from OECD countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    5. Salim, Ruhul & Yao, Yao & Chen, George S., 2017. "Does human capital matter for energy consumption in China?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 49-59.
    6. Yao, Yao & Ivanovski, Kris & Inekwe, John & Smyth, Russell, 2020. "Human capital and CO2 emissions in the long run," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    7. Nadia Hanif & Noman Arshed & Osama Aziz, 2020. "On interaction of the energy: Human capital Kuznets curve? A case for technology innovation," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(8), pages 7559-7586, December.
    8. Mehmet Balcilar & Ojonugwa Usman & George N. Ike, 2023. "Investing green for sustainable development without ditching economic growth," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(2), pages 728-743, April.
    9. Khan, Zeeshan & Malik, Muhammad Yousaf & Latif, Kashmala & Jiao, Zhilun, 2020. "Heterogeneous effect of eco-innovation and human capital on renewable & non-renewable energy consumption: Disaggregate analysis for G-7 countries," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    10. Cheng Jin & Asif Razzaq & Faiza Saleem & Avik Sinha, 2022. "Asymmetric effects of eco-innovation and human capital development in realizing environmental sustainability in China: evidence from quantile ARDL framework," Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(1), pages 4947-4970, December.
    11. Yang, Qiang & Huo, Jiale & Saqib, Najia & Mahmood, Haider, 2022. "Modelling the effect of renewable energy and public-private partnership in testing EKC hypothesis: Evidence from methods moment of quantile regression," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 485-494.
    12. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Song, Malin & Ahmad, Shabbir & Vo, Xuan Vinh, 2022. "Does economic growth stimulate energy consumption? The role of human capital and R&D expenditures in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    13. Savranlar, Buket & Atay Polat, Melike & Aslan, Alper, 2023. "What are the mistakes we think are correct about the ‘Natural resource curse’ hypothesis? New insights from quantile regressions via method of moments for EU," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PA).
    14. Md. Qamruzzaman & Wei Jianguo & Sharmin Jahan & Zhu Yingjun, 2021. "Financial innovation, human capital development, and economic growth of selected South Asian countries: An application of ARDL approach," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(3), pages 4032-4053, July.
    15. Zheng Fang & Marcin Wolski, 2021. "Human capital, energy and economic growth in China: evidence from multivariate nonlinear Granger causality tests," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 60(2), pages 607-632, February.
    16. AM Priyangani Adikari & Haiyun Liu & DMSLB Dissanayake & Manjula Ranagalage, 2023. "Human Capital and Carbon Emissions: The Way forward Reducing Environmental Degradation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-17, February.
    17. Jorge Flores-Chamba & Michelle López-Sánchez & Pablo Ponce & Patricia Guerrero-Riofrío & José Álvarez-García, 2019. "Economic and Spatial Determinants of Energy Consumption in the European Union," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-15, October.
    18. Fang, Jianchun & Gozgor, Giray & Mahalik, Mantu Kumar & Mallick, Hrushikesh & Padhan, Hemachandra, 2022. "Does urbanisation induce renewable energy consumption in emerging economies? The role of education in energy switching policies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    19. Ibrahim Mohamed Ali Ali & Imed Attiaoui & Rabeh Khalfaoui & Aviral Kumar Tiwari, 2022. "The Effect of Urbanization and Industrialization on Income Inequality: An Analysis Based on the Method of Moments Quantile Regression," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 161(1), pages 29-50, May.
    20. Łukasz Jarosław Kozar & Robert Matusiak & Marta Paduszyńska & Adam Sulich, 2022. "Green Jobs in the EU Renewable Energy Sector: Quantile Regression Approach," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-21, September.

    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

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:kap:ecopln:v:56:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1007_s10644-022-09475-4. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.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.