IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jjrfmx/v18y2025i5p235-d1643966.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does Fiscal Decentralization Drive CO 2 Emissions? A Quantile Regression Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Wilman Gustavo Carrillo-Pulgar

    (Department of Economics, Faculty of Political and Administrative Sciences, Universidad Nacional de Chimborazo (UNACH), Riobamba 060101, Ecuador)

  • Juan Pablo Vallejo-Mata

    (Faculty of Graduate Studies, Universidad Estatal de Milagro (UNEMI), Milagro 091706, Ecuador
    Centro de Estudios para el Desarrollo del Ecuador (CEEDE), Milagro 091706, Ecuador)

  • Katherine Gissel Tixi-Gallegos

    (Faculty of Sciences, Escuela Superior Politécnica de Chimborazo (ESPOCH), Riobamba 060101, Ecuador)

  • Patricio Alejandro Sánchez Cuesta

    (Department of Economics, Faculty of Political and Administrative Sciences, Universidad Nacional de Chimborazo (UNACH), Riobamba 060101, Ecuador)

  • Josué Romero-Alvarado

    (Faculty of Graduate Studies, Universidad Estatal de Milagro (UNEMI), Milagro 091706, Ecuador
    Centro de Estudios para el Desarrollo del Ecuador (CEEDE), Milagro 091706, Ecuador)

Abstract

Achieving sustainable models is a crucial challenge today, where government actions play a fundamental role. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the impact of fiscal decentralization on CO 2 emissions in 40 economies between 2000 and 2020. To this end, an unbalanced panel was constructed, and the Method of Moments Quantile Regression (MMQR) was employed. As a robustness check, Driscoll and Kraay’s standard errors approach was used. The MMQR results indicate that fiscal decentralization has a positive and significant effect across all quantiles of CO 2 emissions. Additionally, it was found that revenue-side decentralization has a greater impact on the lower quantiles of CO 2 emissions, while expenditure-side decentralization has a stronger effect on the upper quantiles. The findings also reveal that renewable energy mitigates CO 2 emissions, whereas economic growth, resource rents, and information and communication technologies increase them, although the latter with lower statistical significance. These findings are expected to serve as a basis for public policy formulation aimed at improving environmental quality.

Suggested Citation

  • Wilman Gustavo Carrillo-Pulgar & Juan Pablo Vallejo-Mata & Katherine Gissel Tixi-Gallegos & Patricio Alejandro Sánchez Cuesta & Josué Romero-Alvarado, 2025. "Does Fiscal Decentralization Drive CO 2 Emissions? A Quantile Regression Analysis," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-22, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jjrfmx:v:18:y:2025:i:5:p:235-:d:1643966
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1911-8074/18/5/235/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1911-8074/18/5/235/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Khan, Zeeshan & Ali, Shahid & Dong, Kangyin & Li, Rita Yi Man, 2021. "How does fiscal decentralization affect CO2 emissions? The roles of institutions and human capital," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    2. M. Hashem Pesaran, 2021. "General diagnostic tests for cross-sectional dependence in panels," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 60(1), pages 13-50, January.
    3. Hashem Pesaran, M. & Yamagata, Takashi, 2008. "Testing slope homogeneity in large panels," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 142(1), pages 50-93, January.
    4. Lin, Boqiang & Wang, Zhijun, 2024. "Do local government investment preferences influence renewable energy technology innovation? Evidence from China," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Li, Xuelin & Yang, Lin, 2023. "Natural resources, remittances and carbon emissions: A Dutch Disease perspective with remittances for South Asia," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PB).
    2. Ding, Yuanyi, 2023. "Does natural resources cause sustainable financial development or resources curse? Evidence from group of seven economies," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    3. Wang, Xiang & Yin, Jian & Yang, Yao & Muda, Iskandar & Abduvaxitovna, Shamansurova Zilola & AlWadi, Belal Mahmoud & Castillo-Picon, Jorge & Abdul-Samad, Zulkiflee, 2023. "Relationship between the resource curse, Forest management and sustainable development and the importance of R&D Projects," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PA).
    4. Guan, Zepeng & Hossain, Mohammad Razib & Sheikh, Muhammad Ramzan & Khan, Zeeshan & Gu, Xiao, 2023. "Unveiling the interconnectedness between energy-related GHGs and pro-environmental energy technology: Lessons from G-7 economies with MMQR approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 281(C).
    5. Shan, Shan & Ahmad, Munir & Tan, Zhixiong & Adebayo, Tomiwa Sunday & Man Li, Rita Yi & Kirikkaleli, Dervis, 2021. "The role of energy prices and non-linear fiscal decentralization in limiting carbon emissions: Tracking environmental sustainability," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    6. Lin, Renzao & Wang, Zhe & Gao, Chunjiao, 2023. "Re-examining resources taxes and sustainable financial expansion: An empirical evidence of novel panel methods for China's provincial data," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    7. Can Zhang & Umra Waris & Leren Qian & Muhammad Irfan & Mubeen Abdur Rehman, 2024. "Unleashing the dynamic linkages among natural resources, economic complexity, and sustainable economic growth: Evidence from G‐20 countries," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(4), pages 3736-3752, August.
    8. Ozturk, Ilhan & Razzaq, Asif & Sharif, Arshian & Yu, Zhengsen, 2023. "Investigating the impact of environmental governance, green innovation, and renewable energy on trade-adjusted material footprint in G20 countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(PA).
    9. Chen, Yufeng & Khurshid, Adnan & Rauf, Abdur & Yang, Hanyao & Calin, Adrian Cantemir, 2023. "Natural resource endowment and human development: Contemporary role of governance," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    10. Zhongwei, Huang & Liu, Yishu, 2022. "The role of eco-innovations, trade openness, and human capital in sustainable renewable energy consumption: Evidence using CS-ARDL approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 201(P1), pages 131-140.
    11. Li, Menghan & Zhang, Kaiyue & Alamri, Ahmad Mohammed & Ageli, Mohammed Moosa & Khan, Numan, 2023. "Resource curse hypothesis and sustainable development: Evaluating the role of renewable energy and R&D," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    12. Wang, Zhongbao & Razzaq, Asif, 2022. "Natural resources, energy efficiency transition and sustainable development: Evidence from BRICS economies," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    13. Gao, Chunjiao & Chen, Hongxi, 2023. "Electricity from renewable energy resources: Sustainable energy transition and emissions for developed economies," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    14. Zheng, Li & Yuan, Ling & Khan, Zeeshan & Badeeb, Ramez Abubakr & Zhang, Leilei, 2023. "How G-7 countries are paving the way for net-zero emissions through energy efficient ecosystem?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    15. Liu, Qiang & Zhao, Zhongwei & Liu, Yiran & He, Yao, 2022. "Natural resources commodity prices volatility, economic performance and environment: Evaluating the role of oil rents," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    16. Yongming Huang & Lian Xue & Zeeshan Khan, 2021. "What abates carbon emissions in China: Examining the impact of renewable energy and green investment," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(5), pages 823-834, September.
    17. Khan, Zeeshan & Hossain, Mohammad Razib & Badeeb, Ramez Abubakr & Zhang, Changyong, 2023. "Aggregate and disaggregate impact of natural resources on economic performance: Role of green growth and human capital," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    18. Khan, Yasir & Liu, Fang & Hassan, Taimoor, 2023. "Natural resources and sustainable development: Evaluating the role of remittances and energy resources efficiency," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    19. Badee Uz Zaman & Hui‐Yun Yu, 2024. "How infrastructure development, technological innovation, and institutional quality impact the environmental quality of G7 countries: A step towards environmental sustainability," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(4), pages 3495-3517, August.
    20. Huang, Chaoqun & Liu, Weibai & Iqbal, Wasim & Shah, Syed Ale Raza, 2024. "Does digital governance matter for environmental sustainability? The key challenges and opportunities under the prism of natural resource management," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:gam:jjrfmx:v:18:y:2025:i:5:p:235-:d:1643966. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.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.