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Per Capita Income, Consumption Patterns, and CO2 Emissions

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  • Caron, Justin
  • Fally, Thibault

Abstract

This paper investigates the role of income-driven differences in consumption patterns in explaining and projecting energy demand and CO2 emissions. We develop and estimate a general-equilibrium model with non-homothetic preferences across a large set of countries and sectors, and trace embodied energy consumption through intermediate use and trade linkages. Consumption of energy goods is less than proportional to income in rich countries, and more income-elastic in low-income countries. While income effects are weaker for embodied energy, we find a significant negative relationship between income elasticity and CO2 intensity across all goods. These income-driven differences in consumption choices can partially explain the observed inverted-U relationship between income and emissions across countries, the so-called environmental Kuznet curve. Relative to standard models with homothetic preferences, simulations suggest that income growth leads to lower emissions in high-income countries and higher emissions in some low-income countries, with only modest reductions in world emissions on aggregate.
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  • Caron, Justin & Fally, Thibault, 2018. "Per Capita Income, Consumption Patterns, and CO2 Emissions," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt0n98j4z7, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
  • Handle: RePEc:cdl:agrebk:qt0n98j4z7
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    Cited by:

    1. Yannic Rehm & Lucas Chancel, 2022. "Measuring the Carbon Content of Wealth Evidence from France and Germany," World Inequality Lab Working Papers halshs-03828939, HAL.
    2. Moritz A. Drupp & Ulrike Kornek & Jasper N. Meya & Lutz Sager, 2021. "Inequality and the Environment: The Economics of a Two-Headed Hydra," CESifo Working Paper Series 9447, CESifo.
    3. Haug, Alfred A. & Ucal, Meltem, 2019. "The role of trade and FDI for CO2 emissions in Turkey: Nonlinear relationships," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 297-307.
    4. Yannic Rehm & Lucas Chancel, 2022. "Measuring the Carbon Content of Wealth Evidence from France and Germany," Working Papers halshs-03828939, HAL.
    5. Niko Korpar & Mario Larch & Roman Stöllinger, 2023. "The European carbon border adjustment mechanism: a small step in the right direction," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 95-138, February.
    6. Lebrand,Mathilde Sylvie Maria & Theophile,Ewane, 2022. "Rising Incomes, Transport Demand, and Sector Decarbonization," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10010, The World Bank.
    7. Carl Gaigné & Lota D. Tamini, 2021. "Environmental Taxation and Import Demand for Environmental Goods: Theory and Evidence from the European Union," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 78(2), pages 307-352, February.
    8. Umar Nawaz Kayani & Misbah Sadiq & Ahmet Faruk Aysan & Syed Arslan Haider & Ismat Nasim, 2023. "The Impact of Investment, Economic Growth, Renewable Energy, Urbanisation, and Tourism on Carbon Emissions: Global Evidence," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 13(1), pages 403-412, January.
    9. Abdulrasheed Zakari & Bahareh Oryani & Rafael Alvarado & Kadir Mumini, 2023. "Assessing the impact of green energy and finance on environmental performance in China and Japan," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 1185-1199, April.
    10. Moz-Christofoletti, Maria Alice & Pereda, Paula Carvalho, 2021. "Distributional welfare and emission effects of energy tax policies in Brazil," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    11. Hendrik Mahlkow & Joschka Wanner, 2023. "The Carbon Footprint of Global Trade Imbalances," CESifo Working Paper Series 10729, CESifo.
    12. Michael Cary, 2020. "Have greenhouse gas emissions from US energy production peaked? State level evidence from six subsectors," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 125-134, March.
    13. Mumbunan, Sonny & Maitri, Ni Made Rahayu, 2022. "A Review of Basic Income for Nature and Climate," OSF Preprints bre43, Center for Open Science.
    14. Uygar Ozesmi, 2019. "The Prosumer Economy -- Being Like a Forest," Papers 1903.07615, arXiv.org.
    15. Kathrine von Graevenitz & Elisa Rottner & Philipp M. Richter, 2024. "Is Germany Becoming the European Pollution Haven?," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2024_503, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    16. Mahlkow, Hendrik & Wanner, Joschka, 2023. "The carbon footprint of global trade imbalances," W.E.P. - Würzburg Economic Papers 108, University of Würzburg, Department of Economics.
    17. Mahlkow, Hendrik & Wanner, Joschka, 2023. "The carbon footprint of global trade imbalances," Kiel Working Papers 2260, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    18. Yannic Rehm & Lucas Chancel, 2022. "Measuring the Carbon Content of Wealth Evidence from France and Germany," PSE Working Papers halshs-03828939, HAL.
    19. Sager, Lutz, 2023. "The global consumer incidence of carbon pricing: Evidence from trade," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(PB).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social and Behavioral Sciences;

    JEL classification:

    • F18 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and 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
    • Q47 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Energy Forecasting
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General

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