Examining the Impact of Demographic Factors on Air Pollution

This study adds to the emerging literature examining empirically the link between population size, other demographic factors and pollution. We contribute by using more reliable estimation techniques and examine two air pollutants. By considering sulfur dioxide, we become the first study to explicitly examine the impact of demographic factors on a pollutant other than carbon dioxide at the cross-national level. We also take into account the urbanization rate and the average household size neglected by many prior cross-national econometric studies. For carbon dioxide emissions we find evidence that population increases are matched by proportional increases in emissions while a higher urbanization rate and lower average household size increase emissions. For sulfur dioxide emissions, we find a U-shaped relationship, with the population-emissions elasticity rising at higher population levels. Urbanization and average household size are not found to be significant determinants of sulfur dioxide emissions. For both pollutants, our results suggest that an increasing share of global emissions will be accounted for by developing countries. Implications for the environmental Kuznets curve literature are described and directions for further work identified.     

Population,Development and Global Warming: Averting the Tragedy of the Climate Commons

Carbon emissions from fossil fuel use and other human activity are predicted to cause a significant warming of the global climate, according to a growing consensus of scientists. Global warming would have substantial negative effects on the world environment and economy. Human population and economic growth continue to drive both energy use and carbon emissions. While the developed countries are the largest source of present and past emissions, developing countries are rapidly catching up. China will probably surpass the United States as the largest carbon emitter early in the next century. The global warming treaty signed in Rio in 1992 relies entirely on voluntary emission caps for developed countries and has had little or no apparent effect on emissions. Much stronger steps must be taken to avoid or lessen potential climate change. A globally determined but nationally imposed carbon tax should be adopted to internalize the future costs of carbon emissions into the present cost of fossil fuel and other carbon sources. This would allow the maximum use of free market forces and individual choice to determine how carbon emission reductions are achieved. In addition, national emission caps for all countries should be established. International trade mechanisms can be used to support universal implementation of these measures. Where possible, global warming policy should include strong but equitable incentives for sustainable development and population stabilization, important goals in themselves regardless of the extent of future climate change.     

Assessing the temporal stability of the population/environment relationship in comparative perspective: a cross-national panel study of carbon dioxide emissions, 1960–2005

This study examines the temporal stability of the population/environment relationship. We analyze panel data from 1960 to 2005 to determine whether the national-level association between population and carbon dioxide emissions has remained stable, declined, or intensified in recent decades. Results indicate that population size has a large and stable positive association with anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions. The findings of temporal stability generally hold for both developed countries and less-developed countries. The authors conclude that population, in tandem with other social drivers, remains an important consideration for research that addresses the human dimensions of global environmental change.     

人口与消费对二氧化碳排放的动态影响——基于变参数模型的实证分析

近年来,随着全球气候的不断变暖,二氧化碳减排问题已经引起了世界性的关注。中国作为世界上最大的碳排放国,必须逐步降低经济发展过程中的碳排放。基于此,利用1978～2009年的相关数据和变参数模型,分析了人口数量和居民消费对我国二氧化碳排放的动态影响。结果表明,人口、消费与二氧化碳排放之间存在长期稳定的关系,二者对碳排放均有比较显著的影响。从总体来看,人口对碳排放的影响弹性要高于消费对碳排放的弹性,但是近年来两者之间的差距越来越小,说明消费对二氧化碳排放的影响力日益增大;随着时间波动,人口与消费对碳排放的影响弹性会呈现规律性的变化,并且可以将其划分为三个明显的阶段。依据上述结论,文章提出了相关政策建议,以减少由人口和消费带来的二氧化碳排放。     

中国城市化与二氧化碳排放量的协整分析

中国经济未来仍将保持良好的发展态势,经济增长的同时常常伴随着城市化过程,含碳能源的消费带动城市化进程的同时,也使得大气中的二氧化碳含量明显增加,发展与环保之间的关系值得权衡。在已有的理论基础上,采用1978～2006年的相关统计数据对中国城市化与含碳能源消费发生的二氧化碳排放量进行协整分析,同时建立误差修正模型,并运用Granger因果关系检验的方法,反映经济发展过程中城市化与二氧化碳排放量之间的规律性变化。城市化与二氧化碳排放量之间存在着长期稳定的均衡关系,二期滞后时,具有协整关系。同时Granger因果关系检验结果表明,中国的城市化进程不同于发达工业化国家,与二氧化碳排放量之间不具有理论上的双向因果关系。二期滞后时,城市化是二氧化碳排放量的Granger原因,但后者不是前者的原因,对其不具有反馈效应。     

日本工业化进程中人口因素对碳排放影响研究

近年来发达国家的统计数据显示,居民生活消费的直接与间接能源消耗已超过产业部门,成为碳排放的主要增长点。运用STIRPAT模型,研究日本工业化进程中人口因素对碳排放的影响,从人口与消费视角探讨碳排放问题,将对我国工业化阶段的碳减排起到一定的指导作用。提高低碳技术水平、控制人口规模、引导居民消费模式的合理转变将成为控制工业化进程中碳排放的有效手段。     

我国人口-经济-二氧化碳排放的关联研究

通过全国1995～2008年各省区二氧化碳排放和人口发展状况对比发现,人口与二氧化碳排放之间并不呈现简单的正相关关系。本文引入经济系统对人口与二氧化碳排放之间的关系进行关联分析。研究发现,在短时期内,人口增长对二氧化碳排放的影响不可忽视,但从长远来看,经济增长对二氧化碳排放影响更为重要。值得注意的是,虽然人口和经济增长是二氧化碳排放变化的原因,但当滞后期延长,人口和经济系统之间将互为因果,使得人口和二氧化碳排放的关系将更为复杂。     

Causal Relationships among Population and Carbon Dioxide Emissions

The carbon dioxide emissions of the provinces would be calculated from 1995 to 2008.And we compare the provinces’ carbon dioxide emissions and population development.We found that the relationship between population and carbon dioxide emissions are not a simple correlation.In order to probe the relation,we introduce the economic variable into the research,take advantage the cointegration analysis and Granger causality test.The paper found that the population and economic growth is the main reason of carbon dioxide emission change.In short run the population growth would impact the carbon dioxide emissions,and increase in carbon dioxide emissions cannot be simply attributed to overpopulation,economic growth impact on carbon dioxide emissions more strongly.     

人口因素对CO2排放的影响——基于面板分位数回归的实证研究

基于1995～2009年中国省际面板数据,利用面板分位数回归模型估计人口因素对我国CO2排放量的影响,结果显示:人口数量和人口城市化率是影响我国CO2排放的主要人口因素,但从影响大小上看,人口数量变化对发达省份CO2排放的影响大于欠发达省份,而人口城市化率则对欠发达省份的CO2排放具有更大的影响;家庭小型化对CO2排放的影响因省而异,对不同省份,要么没有明显的影响,要么可能导致CO2排放量增加;年龄结构目前还不是导致我国CO2排放量变化的主要人口因素;综合比较而言,经济发展水平对CO2排放的影响大于人口各因素,产业结构对CO2排放的影响小于人口数量和人口城市化率,而技术进步与CO2排放的关系则显得模糊。     

The Leverage of Demographic Dynamics on Carbon Dioxide Emissions: Does Age Structure Matter?

This article provides a methodological contribution to the study of the effect of changes in population age structure on carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. First, I propose a generalization of the IPAT equation to a multisector economy with an age-structured population and discuss the insights that can be obtained in the context of stable population theory. Second, I suggest a statistical model of household consumption as a function of household size and age structure to quantitatively evaluate the extent of economies of scale in consumption of energy-intensive goods, and to estimate age-specific profiles of consumption of energy-intensive goods and of CO₂ emissions. Third, I offer an illustration of the methodologies using data for the United States. The analysis shows that per-capita CO₂ emissions increase with age until the individual is in his or her 60s, and then emissions tend to decrease. Holding everything else constant, the expected change in U.S. population age distribution during the next four decades is likely to have a small, but noticeable, positive impact on CO₂ emissions.     

北京市人口经济与二氧化碳排放的关联分析

一直以来北京的人口问题被认为是造成环境污染的一个主要原因。基于VAR模型的脉冲响应和方差因素分解发现,在影响二氧化碳排放因素中,经济规模的增长对二氧化碳排放的影响远远强于人口规模的增长。由于人口增长在一定程度上有利于经济聚集和技术进步,北京人口增长对经济聚集和技术进步的推动作用大于人口增长本身所造成的环境压力,因此,北京人口增长并没有表现出常识所认为的与二氧化碳排放的正相关关系。北京应更多从经济领域入手,通过采取多种措施如调整经济结构,挖掘减排潜力以及颁布实施一系列更为严格有效的环境保护政策来应对环境污染问题。     

家庭人口老化对碳排放的影响——基于家庭微观视角的实证研究

人口老龄化和全球气候变暖已经成为世界各国共同关注的议题。在我国人口老龄化日益加剧、环境问题也逐渐引起社会各界广泛关注的背景下,家庭层面人口老化与碳排放之间关系值得深入研究。文章从微观家庭结构出发,对家庭内部人口老化与碳排放之间关系进行理论分析,利用中国家庭金融调查数据库(CHFS)2013年的截面数据对人口老化与碳排放的关系进行实证研究。研究结果表明家庭的老化特征与家庭碳排放之间呈现负相关,家庭的老化特征有助于减轻家庭的碳排放水平,老年人与年轻人共同生活的主干家庭更加"节能环保",这一结论与人们的一般感性认识有所不同。因此,应当鼓励年轻人与老年人共同居住,通过老年人的生活方式和消费习惯影响家庭的消费行为和消费结构,使家庭朝着节约环保型转变。本文的结论同时也表明人口老龄化产生的并非都是消极影响,其对社会的影响需要进行全面评估以积极应对老龄社会的到来。     

人口、经济和技术对二氧化碳排放的影响分析——基于动态面板模型

气候变化和二氧化碳减排问题已经引起了世界性的关注。一般而言,一个国家的二氧化碳排放量是由多种因素共同作用决定的,并且这些因素对碳排放量的作用可能有所不同。文章基于动态面板模型,利用中国30个省份的相关数据,分析了二氧化碳排放与人口、经济、技术的关系。结果表明,人口、经济和技术对不同地区二氧化碳排放的影响是不一样的。其中人口对二氧化碳排放的影响呈现明显的双向性,经济增长对碳排放具有较强的促进作用,而技术进步则在一定程度上缓解了二氧化碳排放。另外,二氧化碳排放表现出明显的路径依赖现象,当期经济增长将至少对未来1~3年的空气质量产生影响。基于上述结论,文章提出了减少二氧化碳排放的相关政策建议,以适应中国的低碳经济道路。     

Population aging and environmental quality in OECD countries: evidence from sulfur dioxide emissions data

Recent literature has suggested that population aging may shape energy demand and related emissions. Recent scholarship also suggests that emissions play a role in contemporary climate change and, as such, understanding the effect of population compositional change has considerable environmental policy importance. The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the macro-level relationship between population aging and emissions of sulfur dioxide. We extend a standard macroeconomic estimation function by including the age composition of the population. In doing so, we separate, for the first time in the literature on aging and the environment, the life-cycle dimension of the age structure from its cohort dimension. We utilize data representing a balanced panel of 25 OECD countries during the period from 1970 to 2000. Consistent with our expectations, we find that societies with a low proportion of young and a high proportion of senior citizens emit more sulfur dioxide. At the same time, our results suggest that a high proportion of individuals born before 1960 is positively correlated to national sulfur dioxide emissions. Our study contributes to understanding of past emission patterns in OECD countries and the findings may allow for improvements in future emission projections.     

公众参与治理与中国二氧化碳减排行动——基于省级面板数据的经验分析

文章分析了公众和企业在二氧化碳减排中的集体行动困境及减碳治理中的政府失灵问题。计算整理了1997～2008年中国二氧化碳排放量的省级面板数据,运用可行的广义最小二乘估计法进行了实证分析。结果表明,公众以信访的形式参与环保对于降低中国碳排放强度和人均碳排放量起到了积极作用,但政府与公众参与的联合治理机制对于碳减排的作用比较有限;另外,中国公众受教育程度与碳排放强度、人均碳排放量之间均体现了倒U形关系;在东部和中部地区,居民家庭平均规模的扩大也有利于降低碳排放强度和人均碳排放量。     

我国家庭动态变化对二氧化碳排放的影响分析

人口数量及其增长率常常被认为是二氧化碳排放增长的重要推动力之一,而家庭变动对二氧化碳排放的影响往往被忽视。基于此,采用VAR模型,通过脉冲响应函数来考察人口和家庭变动对二氧化碳排放的动态影响,并用方差分解法揭示其相互影响程度及差异。结果表明,家庭层面变量对二氧化碳排放的影响远大于人口总量对二氧化碳排放的影响。考察人口总量、平均家庭规模以及家庭户变动三者对二氧化碳排放影响的贡献差异发现,平均家庭规模对二氧化碳排放的影响大于家庭户变动对二氧化碳排放的影响,且大于人口总量对二氧化碳排放的影响。相对于人口总量,以家庭户为视角来研究人口因素对二氧化碳的影响更为重要。因此,在节能减排的政策建议中,应当更多倡导推广有利于可持续发展的家庭户模式,家庭减排对于减排目标的实现将具有更大的潜力。     

人口增长、城市化对环境的影响——以CO2排放为例

基于1978—2007中国宏观经济时间序列数据,利用协整回归方法和误差修正模型(ECM),实证分析了人口增长、城市化水平、人均GDP和能源强度对CO2排放的影响。结果显示,人口总量、城市化水平、人均GDP和能源强度与CO2排放存在长期均衡关系。长期来看,人口总量对CO2排放量的影响最大,城市化水平其次,人均GDP最小。短期来看,能源强度和人均GDP对CO2排放波动影响较大,而人口总量和城市化水平影响不显著。     

Resources,environment, and population: the nature of future limits

The balance between world supplies of resources and the demands presented by population growth in the recent past, during the period to 2025, and for the long term is examined. Focus is on the issues, the past in terms of socioeconomic indicators, past trends in market places, and specific evidence of depletion; future demands in terms of population projections and growth in per capita demand; resource supplies to 2025; ultimate resource production possibilities; environmental constraints and risks (problems capable of control at reasonable cost, other domestic environmental problems, and potentially severe global problems); and implications. Improvement in socioeconomic indicators, relatively stable resource market prices, along with evidence of resource and environmental changes suggest that thus far the world as a whole has been able to win the race between demand and supply. For the next 50 years, during which a slowdown is projected in population growth rates and resource consumption, the most important problems to be faced are associated with the unequal distribution of resources and the transition problems of moving from 1 resource regime to another in an orderly fashion. For the long term, a projected equilibrium population of 10-12 billion can probably be sustained at a decent standard of living by more equitable distribution of food and shifts from less to more abundant resources. Ultimately, environmental and security problems associated with growing energy production and use such as increasing atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide and nuclear proliferation may be the most difficult to resolve. Although cessation of population growth would help, it does not by itself constitute a solution to the world's resource problems. Both the causes and the symptoms need to be worked on simultaneously. Understanding the true nature of the world's resource and environmental limitations is a 1st step in that direction.     

Intergenerational transfers in US county-level CO2 emissions, 2007

Research has shown that increases in carbon emissions and resulting climate change are not driven by population size alone, but also associated with industrialization, urbanization, and economic development. Further, industrialization and development may, in part, be driven by changing demographic structure, and in particular the process of population aging. Fluctuations in age composition shape aggregate production and consumption. Viewed through this lens, the carbon dioxide emissions of an analytical unit (county, province, state, nation) can be considered a product of its age composition. This analysis tests several demographic theories of age-specific production and consumption on US county-level carbon dioxide emissions. Using a modified STIRPAT framework, econometric estimates identify a positive correlation between county-level labor force participation and total carbon dioxide emissions. These effects are a result of general economic activity as opposed to growth only in energy intensive industrial sectors, a relationship that is widely hypothesized but under-developed in carbon emission estimates. In addition, results show larger households are associated with lower aggregate emissions, confirming the hypothesis that areas of declining household size will experience higher future emissions. In general, this research demonstrates the importance of adding nuance to emission estimates by integrating demographic dimensions beyond population size and growth.     

Energy, population and the environment: exploring Canada’s record on CO2 emissions and energy use relative to other OECD countries

Across the OECD, Canada??s record on CO₂ emissions is particularly poor, with overall emissions up 32% over the 1990?C2007 period. The current paper seeks to better understand this situation by making systematic comparisons of Canada with other OECD countries. For Canada overall, the rapid increase in emissions over the 1990?C2007 period can be explained by several factors, including major population growth, increased affluence (although to a lesser extent than elsewhere in the OECD), a continued dependence on fossil fuels, while continuing to increase its overall demand for energy. While the energy intensity of Canada??s economy has declined somewhat over recent years, it actually lagged behind most OECD countries on this front and remains one of the most energy intense economies in the world (2nd highest in the OECD on our indicator of energy intensity). While there are many factors responsible for this, Canada??s particularly energy-intensive industrial structure is certainly relevant, as is the importance of its primary sector relative to most developed nations.