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Can Digital Human Capital Mitigate CO2 Emissions? Empirical Test for Post-Communist Countries

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  • Bekhzod Djalilov

    (Tashkent Metropolitan University, Tashkent, Uzbekistan.)

  • Islomjon Kobiljonov

    (Tashkent Metropolitan University, Tashkent, Uzbekistan.)

  • Raufhon Salahodjaev

    (AKFA University, Tashkent, Uzbekistan; & ERGO Analytics, Tashkent, Uzbekistan.)

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between internet users, a proxy for digital human capital, and CO2 emissions in a sample of Post-Communist countries over the period 1990-2019. The results suggest that internet diffusion is negatively and significantly correlated with CO2 emission even after controlling for other economic antecedents of environmental degradation. Moreover, using fixed effects two-stage least squares estimator, we document that internet has causal impact on carbon emissions. In the full specification, a 10 percentage points increase in internet use leads to 4.2% decrease in CO2 emissions across Post-Communist countries. These results remain intact even when we introduce additional control variables in the model and conduct analysis on sub-samples. The papers highlights that human capital leads to sustainable development in developing countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Bekhzod Djalilov & Islomjon Kobiljonov & Raufhon Salahodjaev, 2023. "Can Digital Human Capital Mitigate CO2 Emissions? Empirical Test for Post-Communist Countries," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 13(4), pages 383-388, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:eco:journ2:2023-04-40
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    ICT; Internet; Carbon emissions; Post-Communist;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q5 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics

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