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The impact of digital financial inclusion on household carbon emissions: evidence from China

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Listed:
  • Yu Zhou

    (South China University of Technology)

  • Caijiang Zhang

    (South China University of Technology)

  • Zhangwen Li

    (South China University of Technology)

Abstract

The role of digital financial inclusion in economic development has been widely appreciated, and its carbon emission mitigating effect on the household sector needs to be noticed. This study investigates the impact of digital financial inclusion on household carbon emissions based on panel data for 30 Chinese provinces from 2011 to 2020. The results show that digital financial inclusion has a significant and robust mitigation effect on household carbon emissions and that digital financial inclusion impacts mainly from the breadth of coverage and the degree of digitization. The heterogeneity test results show that this mitigation effect is mainly found in the central and western inland regions as well as in the northern regions with high winter heating demand. In addition, this mitigation effect is mainly found in urban rather than rural areas. The results of the mechanism analysis show that digital financial inclusion reduces household carbon emissions through two pathways, electricity consumption and natural gas consumption share, and no significant mediating effect is observed for residential consumption share. The results of this study shed light on the relationship between digital financial inclusion and carbon emissions in the household sector and provide a reference for decision-making to address household carbon emission mitigation in China.

Suggested Citation

  • Yu Zhou & Caijiang Zhang & Zhangwen Li, 2023. "The impact of digital financial inclusion on household carbon emissions: evidence from China," Journal of Economic Structures, Springer;Pan-Pacific Association of Input-Output Studies (PAPAIOS), vol. 12(1), pages 1-21, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jecstr:v:12:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1186_s40008-023-00296-w
    DOI: 10.1186/s40008-023-00296-w
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Digital financial inclusion; Carbon emissions; Household carbon emissions; China; Mechanism;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G50 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance - - - General
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • Q57 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Ecological Economics

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