IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v45y2012icp286-292.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is an increased elderly population related to decreased CO2 emissions from road transportation?

Author

Listed:
  • Okada, Akira

Abstract

Few studies have focused on the potential effects of an increase in the share of aged population on the environmental impacts of road transportation. In order to fill this gap in the literature, this paper empirically analyzes whether there is a relationship between the share of aged population and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from road transportation by applying a quadratic function. Using international panel data, it also addresses the level of the turning point in the relationships between the share of aged population and CO2 emissions. The analysis in this paper uses a first-order differential equation to estimate an inverted U-shaped relationship between them in order to alleviate the unit roots issue. The results from 25 OECD countries, consisting mainly of European countries and Japan, indicate that there is a quadratic relationship between CO2 emissions per capita and the share of aged population, and that the turning point is around 16 percent. The results also imply that a relative increase in the number of elderly people is associated with a decrease in CO2 emissions per capita from the road sector when the share of aged population reaches more than 16 percent.

Suggested Citation

  • Okada, Akira, 2012. "Is an increased elderly population related to decreased CO2 emissions from road transportation?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 286-292.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:45:y:2012:i:c:p:286-292
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2012.02.033
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421512001504
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2012.02.033?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. Wagner, Martin, 2008. "The carbon Kuznets curve: A cloudy picture emitted by bad econometrics?," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 388-408, August.
    2. Mercado, Ruben & Páez, Antonio, 2009. "Determinants of distance traveled with a focus on the elderly: a multilevel analysis in the Hamilton CMA, Canada," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 65-76.
    3. Stern,Nicholas, 2007. "The Economics of Climate Change," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521700801.
    4. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, December.
    5. Brantley Liddle, 2011. "Consumption-Driven Environmental Impact and Age Structure Change in OECD Countries," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 24(30), pages 749-770.
    6. Liddle, Brantley & Lung, Sidney, 2010. "Age-Structure, Urbanization, and Climate Change in Developed Countries: Revisiting STIRPAT for Disaggregated Population and Consumption-Related Environmental Impacts," MPRA Paper 59579, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Antonio Paez & Darren Scott & Dimitris Potoglou & Pavlos Kanaroglou & K. Bruce Newbold, 2007. "Elderly Mobility: Demographic and Spatial Analysis of Trip Making in the Hamilton CMA, Canada," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 44(1), pages 123-146, January.
    8. Sandra Rosenbloom, 2001. "Sustainability and automobility among the elderly: An international assessment," Transportation, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 375-408, November.
    9. Richmond, Amy K. & Kaufmann, Robert K., 2006. "Is there a turning point in the relationship between income and energy use and/or carbon emissions?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 176-189, February.
    10. Dargay, Joyce, 2007. "The effect of prices and income on car travel in the UK," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 41(10), pages 949-960, December.
    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. Caiyun Qian & Yang Zhou & Ze Ji & Qing Feng, 2018. "The Influence of the Built Environment of Neighborhoods on Residents’ Low-Carbon Travel Mode," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-26, March.
    2. Liu, Hongwei & Wu, Jie & Chu, Junfei, 2019. "Environmental efficiency and technological progress of transportation industry-based on large scale data," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 475-482.
    3. Wang, Zhaohua & Liu, Wei, 2015. "Determinants of CO2 emissions from household daily travel in Beijing, China: Individual travel characteristic perspectives," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 292-299.
    4. Wen Guo & Tao Sun & Hongjun Dai, 2016. "Effect of Population Structure Change on Carbon Emission in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-20, March.
    5. Ota, Toru & Kakinaka, Makoto & Kotani, Koji, 2018. "Demographic effects on residential electricity and city gas consumption in the aging society of Japan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 503-513.
    6. Thomas W. Crawford, 2020. "Urban Form as a Technological Driver of Carbon Dioxide Emission: A Structural Human Ecology Analysis of Onroad and Residential Sectors in the Conterminous U.S," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-20, September.
    7. Xiaofeng Lv & Kun Lin & Lingshan Chen & Yongzhong Zhang, 2022. "Does Retirement Affect Household Energy Consumption Structure? Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Design," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-14, September.
    8. Wang, Shaojian & Wang, Jieyu & Zhou, Yuquan, 2018. "Estimating the effects of socioeconomic structure on CO2 emissions in China using an econometric analysis framework," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 18-27.
    9. Hyungwoo Lim & Jaehyeok Kim & Ha-Hyun Jo, 2020. "Population Age Structure and Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Road Transportation: A Panel Cointegration Analysis of 21 OECD Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-18, October.
    10. Vanesa Zorrilla-Muñoz & Marc Petz & María Silveria Agulló-Tomás, 2021. "GARCH model to estimate the impact of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions per sociodemographic factors and CAP in Spain," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 4675-4697, March.
    11. Tae Yong Jung & Yong-Gun Kim & Jongwoo Moon, 2021. "The Impact of Demographic Changes on CO 2 Emission Profiles: Cases of East Asian Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-14, January.
    12. Ran Yu & Zhangchi Wang & Yan Li & Zuhui Wen & Weijia Wang, 2023. "Does Population Aging Affect Carbon Emission Intensity by Regulating Labor Allocation?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-19, June.
    13. Laureti, Tiziana & Montero, José-María & Fernández-Avilés, Gema, 2014. "A local scale analysis on influencing factors of NOx emissions: Evidence from the Community of Madrid, Spain," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 557-568.
    14. Bardazzi, Rossella & Pazienza, Maria Grazia, 2018. "Ageing and private transport fuel expenditure: Do generations matter?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 396-405.
    15. Zhang, Chuanguo & Nian, Jiang, 2013. "Panel estimation for transport sector CO2 emissions and its affecting factors: A regional analysis in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 918-926.
    16. Liddle, Brantley, 2014. "Impact of population, age structure, and urbanization on carbon emissions/energy consumption: Evidence from macro-level, cross-country analyses," MPRA Paper 61306, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Yu, Yan-Yan & Liang, Qiao-mei & Liu, Li-Jing, 2023. "Impact of population ageing on carbon emissions: A case of China's urban households," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 86-100.
    18. José-María Montero & Gema Fernández-Avilés & Tiziana Laureti, 2021. "A Local Spatial STIRPAT Model for Outdoor NO x Concentrations in the Community of Madrid, Spain," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-33, March.
    19. Yang Zhou & Hui Ji & Songtian Zhang & Caiyun Qian & Zixiong Wei, 2019. "Empirical Study on the Boundary Space Form of Residential Blocks Oriented Toward Low-Carbon Travel," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-31, May.
    20. Jaehyeok Kim & Hyungwoo Lim & Ha-Hyun Jo, 2020. "Do Aging and Low Fertility Reduce Carbon Emissions in Korea? Evidence from IPAT Augmented EKC Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-15, April.

    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. Hyungwoo Lim & Jaehyeok Kim & Ha-Hyun Jo, 2020. "Population Age Structure and Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Road Transportation: A Panel Cointegration Analysis of 21 OECD Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-18, October.
    2. Liddle, Brantley, 2015. "What Are the Carbon Emissions Elasticities for Income and Population? Bridging STIRPAT and EKC via robust heterogeneous panel estimates," MPRA Paper 61304, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Liddle, Brantley, 2013. "Population, Affluence, and Environmental Impact Across Development: Evidence from Panel Cointegration Modeling," MPRA Paper 52088, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Li, Kunming & Fang, Liting & He, Lerong, 2019. "How population and energy price affect China's environmental pollution?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 386-396.
    5. Su, Rongxiang & Xiao, Jingyi & McBride, Elizabeth C. & Goulias, Konstadinos G., 2021. "Understanding senior's daily mobility patterns in California using human mobility motifs," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    6. Fang, Wen Shwo & Miller, Stephen M. & Yeh, Chih-Chuan, 2012. "The effect of ESCOs on energy use," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 558-568.
    7. Biranchi Adhikari & Ajay Kumar Behera & Rabindra Narayan Mahapatra & Harish Chandra Das, 2022. "Retracted: An empirical model for Indian senior citizens in traffic management," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(1), pages 35-56, March.
    8. Moniruzzaman, Md. & Páez, Antonio & Nurul Habib, Khandker M. & Morency, Catherine, 2013. "Mode use and trip length of seniors in Montreal," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 89-99.
    9. Shafiei, Sahar & Salim, Ruhul A., 2014. "Non-renewable and renewable energy consumption and CO2 emissions in OECD countries: A comparative analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 547-556.
    10. Menz, Tobias & Welsch, Heinz, 2012. "Population aging and carbon emissions in OECD countries: Accounting for life-cycle and cohort effects," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 842-849.
    11. Mifsud, Deborah & Attard, Maria & Ison, Stephen, 2017. "To drive or to use the bus? An exploratory study of older people in Malta," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 23-32.
    12. He, Sylvia Y. & Cheung, Yannie H.Y. & Tao, Sui, 2018. "Travel mobility and social participation among older people in a transit metropolis: A socio-spatial-temporal perspective," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 608-626.
    13. Yang, Dujuan & Timmermans, Harry & Grigolon, Anna, 2013. "Exploring heterogeneity in travel time expenditure of aging populations in the Netherlands: results of a CHAID analysis," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 170-179.
    14. Pettersson, Pierre & Schmöcker, Jan-Dirk, 2010. "Active ageing in developing countries? – trip generation and tour complexity of older people in Metro Manila," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 613-623.
    15. Lars Böcker & Patrick Amen & Marco Helbich, 2017. "Elderly travel frequencies and transport mode choices in Greater Rotterdam, the Netherlands," Transportation, Springer, vol. 44(4), pages 831-852, July.
    16. Morency, Catherine & Paez, Antonio & Roorda, Matthew J. & Mercado, Ruben & Farber, Steven, 2011. "Distance traveled in three Canadian cities: Spatial analysis from the perspective of vulnerable population segments," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 39-50.
    17. Ota, Toru & Kakinaka, Makoto & Kotani, Koji, 2018. "Demographic effects on residential electricity and city gas consumption in the aging society of Japan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 503-513.
    18. Khandker M. Nurul Habib & Vivian Hui, 2017. "An activity-based approach of investigating travel behaviour of older people," Transportation, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 555-573, May.
    19. Mercado, Ruben & Páez, Antonio & Newbold, K. Bruce, 2010. "Transport policy and the provision of mobility options in an aging society: a case study of Ontario, Canada," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 649-661.
    20. Wynen, Jan, 2013. "Explaining travel distance during same-day visits," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 133-140.

    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:eee:enepol:v:45:y:2012:i:c:p:286-292. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    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.