Human Capital, Institutions, and Environmental Performance: Global Evidence on Female Education, Clean Cooking Energy, and CO2 Emissions

This paper examines the association between female education, household energy use, and national carbon emissions in a global panel. Using data from 171 countries over the period 1990–2020, we analyze how female enrollment at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels is related to two outcomes: the adoption of clean cooking energy and per capita CO2 emissions. Results from fixed-effects, fractional-response, and dynamic panel models indicate that higher female secondary enrollment is consistently associated with greater use of clean cooking fuels and technologies, whereas higher female tertiary enrollment is associated with lower per capita carbon emissions. We further document a positive correlation between female tertiary education and women’s representation in parliament, highlighting an institutional context in which education and environmental outcomes co-evolve. Overall, the findings suggest that women’s education is systematically associated with broader social and environmental outcomes beyond labor-market indicators, including household energy transitions and sustainable development patterns.