School of Economics and Management, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding Hebei, 071000, China.
Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), Islamabad, Pakistan.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2022 Jun;29(30):45612-45622. doi: 10.1007/s11356-022-19051-y. Epub 2022 Feb 11.
The primary focus of this study is to evaluate the impact of various levels of education on CO2 emissions in China. Moreover, the study also tested the EKC hypothesis for different levels of education and economic development. The analysis employed disaggregate and aggregate data for education that included enrollment at primary, secondary, and tertiary levels and the average year of schooling. For empirical analysis, we employed an error correction model and bounds testing approach to cointegration. The results of the study provided some useful information both in the short and long run. All the proxies of education positively impact CO2 emissions at the initial level both in the short and long run; however, when we take the square of these variables, the effects of education on CO2 emissions become negative. Similarly, the impact of economic growth on CO2 emissions is positive in the short and long run, and the square of economic growth on CO2 emissions is negative, supporting the EKC hypothesis. China should increase investment in human capital that promotes green growth and environmental quality.
本研究的主要重点是评估中国不同教育水平对二氧化碳排放的影响。此外，本研究还检验了不同教育水平和经济发展的 EKC 假说。分析采用了教育的分解和综合数据，包括小学、中学和高等教育的入学率以及平均受教育年限。对于实证分析，我们采用了误差修正模型和协整的边界检验方法。研究结果提供了一些短期和长期都有用的信息。在短期和长期内，教育的所有代表变量都对二氧化碳排放有积极的影响；然而，当我们考虑这些变量的平方时，教育对二氧化碳排放的影响就变成了负的。同样，经济增长对二氧化碳排放的影响在短期和长期内都是正的，经济增长的平方对二氧化碳排放的影响是负的，支持了 EKC 假说。中国应该增加投资于促进绿色增长和环境质量的人力资本。
