The Center for Economic Research, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, 250100, PR China.
School of Public Economics and Administration, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Shanghai, 200433, PR China.
J Environ Manage. 2020 Jun 15;264:110482. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110482. Epub 2020 Apr 2.
Environmental pollution and income inequality have become two salient issues in China. To achieve a green economic transformation, China urgently needs to develop renewable energy technologies to reduce carbon dioxide (CO) emissions. However, the relationship among income inequality, renewable energy technological innovation (RETI) and CO emissions has not received sufficient attention in the current literature. Based on Chinese provincial panel data from 2000 to 2015, this paper adopts a panel fixed effect regression model and a panel threshold model to perform an analysis on the nonlinear relationship among these factors. The results show that (1) RETI is conducive to reducing per capita CO emissions (PCE). However, with an increase in income inequality, the abatement effect of RETI on per capita CO emissions will be hindered, and RETI will even positively contribute to PCE. (2) The panel threshold model shows that the impact of RETI on PCE has a significant single-threshold effect with regard to income inequality. When income inequality is lower than the threshold value, the impact of RETI on PCE is not significant. However, above the threshold value, that is, within the interval of higher income inequality, an increase in RETI will positively contribute to PCE. Finally, from the perspectives of income inequality and RETI, relevant policy implications are put forward for achieving the transformation of a low-carbon economy.
环境污染和收入不平等已成为中国的两个突出问题。为实现绿色经济转型，中国迫切需要发展可再生能源技术以减少二氧化碳（CO）排放。然而，在当前文献中，收入不平等、可再生能源技术创新（RETI）和 CO 排放之间的关系尚未得到足够重视。本文基于中国 2000-2015 年的省级面板数据，采用面板固定效应回归模型和面板门限模型，对这些因素之间的非线性关系进行了分析。结果表明：（1）RETI 有利于降低人均 CO 排放（PCE）。然而，随着收入不平等的加剧，RETI 对人均 CO 排放的减排效应将受到阻碍，甚至会对 PCE 产生正向贡献。（2）面板门限模型表明，RETI 对 PCE 的影响在收入不平等方面存在显著的单一门限效应。当收入不平等低于阈值时，RETI 对 PCE 的影响不显著。然而，超过阈值后，即在更高收入不平等的区间内，RETI 的增加将对 PCE 产生正向贡献。最后，从收入不平等和 RETI 的角度出发，提出了实现低碳经济转型的相关政策建议。
