IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eneeco/v126y2023ics0140988323004395.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The net climate effect of digitalization, differentiating between firms and households

Author

Listed:
  • Kopp, Thomas
  • Nabernegg, Markus
  • Lange, Steffen

Abstract

While public debate and prominent studies expect digitalization to substantially reduce energy use and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, quantitative research has produced ambiguous results. This study addresses the challenges in the analysis of the relationship between a country’s digitalization level and CO2 emissions by employing the Group Fixed Effects estimator for panel data of EU and OECD countries and by differentiating between emissions associated with digitalization in firms and households.

Suggested Citation

  • Kopp, Thomas & Nabernegg, Markus & Lange, Steffen, 2023. "The net climate effect of digitalization, differentiating between firms and households," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:126:y:2023:i:c:s0140988323004395
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2023.106941
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140988323004395
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eneco.2023.106941?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. Jung Wan Lee & Tantatape Brahmasrene, 2014. "ICT, CO 2 Emissions and Economic Growth: Evidence from a Panel of ASEAN," Global Economic Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(2), pages 93-109, June.
    2. Arik Levinson, 2015. "A Direct Estimate of the Technique Effect: Changes in the Pollution Intensity of US Manufacturing, 1990-2008," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 2(1), pages 43-56.
    3. Arthur Mickoleit, 2010. "Greener and Smarter: ICTs, the Environment and Climate Change," OECD Green Growth Papers 2010/1, OECD Publishing.
    4. Arellano, Manuel & Bover, Olympia, 1995. "Another look at the instrumental variable estimation of error-components models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 29-51, July.
    5. Stéphane Bonhomme & Elena Manresa, 2015. "Grouped Patterns of Heterogeneity in Panel Data," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 83(3), pages 1147-1184, May.
    6. Stern, David I., 2004. "The Rise and Fall of the Environmental Kuznets Curve," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(8), pages 1419-1439, August.
    7. Jens Malmodin & Åsa Moberg & Dag Lundén & Göran Finnveden & Nina Lövehagen, 2010. "Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Operational Electricity Use in the ICT and Entertainment & Media Sectors," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 14(5), pages 770-790, October.
    8. Anindya Banerjee, 1999. "Panel Data Unit Roots and Cointegration: An Overview," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 61(S1), pages 607-629, November.
    9. Cole, Matthew A. & Elliott, Robert J.R. & Okubo, Toshihiro & Zhou, Ying, 2013. "The carbon dioxide emissions of firms: A spatial analysis," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 290-309.
    10. Gene M. Grossman & Alan B. Krueger, 1995. "Economic Growth and the Environment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 110(2), pages 353-377.
    11. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    12. Steve Martin & Nicholas Rivers, 2018. "Information Provision, Market Incentives, and Household Electricity Consumption: Evidence from a Large-Scale Field Deployment," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 5(1), pages 207-231.
    13. Sadorsky, Perry, 2012. "Information communication technology and electricity consumption in emerging economies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 130-136.
    14. Wang, En-Ze & Lee, Chien-Chiang & Li, Yaya, 2022. "Assessing the impact of industrial robots on manufacturing energy intensity in 38 countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    15. Guido W. Imbens, 2021. "Statistical Significance, p-Values, and the Reporting of Uncertainty," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 35(3), pages 157-174, Summer.
    16. Andrea Chiarini, 2021. "Industry 4.0 technologies in the manufacturing sector: Are we sure they are all relevant for environmental performance?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(7), pages 3194-3207, November.
    17. Richard T. Carson, 2010. "The Environmental Kuznets Curve: Seeking Empirical Regularity and Theoretical Structure," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 4(1), pages 3-23, Winter.
    18. Hamit-Haggar, Mahamat, 2012. "Greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption and economic growth: A panel cointegration analysis from Canadian industrial sector perspective," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 358-364.
    19. Munshi Naser Ibne Afzal & Munshi Naser Ibne Afzal & Jeff Gow & Jeff Gow, 2016. "Electricity Consumption and Information and Communication Technology in the Next Eleven Emerging Economies," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 6(3), pages 381-388.
    20. Pesaran, M. Hashem, 2015. "Time Series and Panel Data Econometrics," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198759980.
    21. Grunewald, Nicole & Klasen, Stephan & Martínez-Zarzoso, Inmaculada & Muris, Chris, 2017. "The Trade-off Between Income Inequality and Carbon Dioxide Emissions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 249-256.
    22. Kopp, Thomas & Nabernegg, Markus, 2022. "Inequality and Environmental Impact – Can the Two Be Reduced Jointly?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    23. Nickell, Stephen J, 1981. "Biases in Dynamic Models with Fixed Effects," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 49(6), pages 1417-1426, November.
    24. Jens Malmodin & Dag Lundén, 2018. "The Energy and Carbon Footprint of the Global ICT and E&M Sectors 2010–2015," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-31, August.
    25. Nathan W. Chan & Kenneth Gillingham, 2015. "The Microeconomic Theory of the Rebound Effect and Its Welfare Implications," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 2(1), pages 133-159.
    26. Anders S. G. Andrae & Tomas Edler, 2015. "On Global Electricity Usage of Communication Technology: Trends to 2030," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 6(1), pages 1-41, April.
    27. Destek, Mehmet Akif & Ulucak, Recep & Dogan, Eyüp, 2018. "Analyzing the Environmental Kuznets Curve for the EU countries: The role of ecological footprint," MPRA Paper 106882, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    28. Patrick Schulte & Heinz Welsch & Sascha Rexhäuser, 2016. "ICT and the Demand for Energy: Evidence from OECD Countries," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 63(1), pages 119-146, January.
    29. Wen-Cheng Lu, 2018. "The impacts of information and communication technology, energy consumption, financial development, and economic growth on carbon dioxide emissions in 12 Asian countries," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 23(8), pages 1351-1365, December.
    30. Jaroslava Hlouskova & Martin Wagner, 2006. "The Performance of Panel Unit Root and Stationarity Tests: Results from a Large Scale Simulation Study," Econometric Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(1), pages 85-116.
    31. Romero-Avila, Diego, 2008. "Questioning the empirical basis of the environmental Kuznets curve for CO2: New evidence from a panel stationarity test robust to multiple breaks and cross-dependence," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(3), pages 559-574, January.
    32. Dinda, Soumyananda, 2004. "Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis: A Survey," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 431-455, August.
    33. Robert Finger & Scott M. Swinton & Nadja El Benni & Achim Walter, 2019. "Precision Farming at the Nexus of Agricultural Production and the Environment," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 11(1), pages 313-335, October.
    34. Shi, Kunbo & Shao, Rui & De Vos, Jonas & Cheng, Long & Witlox, Frank, 2021. "Is e-shopping likely to reduce shopping trips for car owners? A propensity score matching analysis," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    35. Banerjee, Anindya, 1999. "Panel Data Unit Roots and Cointegration: An Overview," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 61(0), pages 607-629, Special I.
    36. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    37. Martin Wagner, 2015. "The Environmental Kuznets Curve, Cointegration and Nonlinearity," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(6), pages 948-967, September.
    38. Lange, Steffen & Pohl, Johanna & Santarius, Tilman, 2020. "Digitalization and energy consumption. Does ICT reduce energy demand?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    39. Wagner, Martin & Hong, Seung Hyun, 2016. "Cointegrating Polynomial Regressions: Fully Modified Ols Estimation And Inference," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 32(5), pages 1289-1315, October.
    40. Buldeo Rai, Heleen, 2021. "The net environmental impact of online shopping, beyond the substitution bias," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    41. Luzzati, Tommaso & Orsini, Marco & Gucciardi, Gianluca, 2018. "A multiscale reassessment of the Environmental Kuznets Curve for energy and CO2 emissions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 612-621.
    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. Lange, Steffen & Pohl, Johanna & Santarius, Tilman, 2020. "Digitalization and energy consumption. Does ICT reduce energy demand?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    2. Tilman Santarius & Johanna Pohl & Steffen Lange, 2020. "Digitalization and the Decoupling Debate: Can ICT Help to Reduce Environmental Impacts While the Economy Keeps Growing?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-20, September.
    3. 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.
    4. Rishan Adha & Cheng-Yih Hong & Somya Agrawal & Li-Hua Li, 2023. "ICT, carbon emissions, climate change, and energy demand nexus: The potential benefit of digitalization in Taiwan," Energy & Environment, , vol. 34(5), pages 1619-1638, August.
    5. Inmaculada Martínez-Zarzoso & Walid Oueslati, 2018. "Do deep and comprehensive regional trade agreements help in reducing air pollution?," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 18(6), pages 743-777, December.
    6. Jean-Thomas Bernard & Michael Gavin & Lynda Khalaf & Marcel Voia, 2015. "Environmental Kuznets Curve: Tipping Points, Uncertainty and Weak Identification," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 60(2), pages 285-315, February.
    7. Roxana Pincheira & Felipe Zuniga & Pablo Neudorfer, 2021. "Carbon Kuznets curve: a dynamic empirical approach for a panel data," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(4), pages 5523-5541, December.
    8. Ajanaku, B.A. & Collins, A.R., 2021. "Economic growth and deforestation in African countries: Is the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis applicable?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    9. Tamazian, Artur & Bhaskara Rao, B., 2010. "Do economic, financial and institutional developments matter for environmental degradation? Evidence from transitional economies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 137-145, January.
    10. Liobikienė, Genovaitė & Butkus, Mindaugas, 2017. "Environmental Kuznets Curve of greenhouse gas emissions including technological progress and substitution effects," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 237-248.
    11. Mansor H. Ibrahim & Siong Hook Law, 2016. "Institutional Quality and CO 2 Emission–Trade Relations: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 84(2), pages 323-340, June.
    12. Arminen, Heli & Menegaki, Angeliki N., 2019. "Corruption, climate and the energy-environment-growth nexus," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 621-634.
    13. Chao Zhang & Ruifa Hu, 2020. "Does Fertilizer Use Intensity Respond to the Urban-Rural Income Gap? Evidence from a Dynamic Panel-Data Analysis in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-15, January.
    14. Afonso, António & Jalles, João Tovar, 2019. "The Fiscal consequences of deflation: Evidence from the Golden Age of Globalization," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 129-147.
    15. Dong, Xiao-Ying & Hao, Yu, 2018. "Would income inequality affect electricity consumption? Evidence from China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 215-227.
    16. Zheng, Xinye & Yu, Yihua & Wang, Jing & Deng, Huihui, 2013. "Identifying the determinants and spatial nexus of provincial carbon intensity in China: A dynamic spatial panel approach," MPRA Paper 56088, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Ibrahim, Mansor H. & Law, Siong Hook, 2014. "Social capital and CO2 emission—output relations: A panel analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 528-534.
    18. Bester Chimbo, 2020. "Information and Communication Technology and Electricity Consumption in Transitional Economies," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 10(3), pages 296-302.
    19. Kais, Saidi & Sami, Hammami, 2016. "An econometric study of the impact of economic growth and energy use on carbon emissions: Panel data evidence from fifty eight countries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 1101-1110.
    20. Marbuah, George & Gren, Ing-Marie & Tirkaso, Wondmagegn Tafesse, 2021. "Social capital, economic development and carbon emissions: Empirical evidence from counties in Sweden," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Climate change; Greenhouse gas emissions; Digitalization; ICT;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming
    • Q55 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Technological Innovation
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

    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:eee:eneeco:v:126:y:2023:i:c:s0140988323004395. 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/eneco .

    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.