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。

The Impact of Family Population Aging on Carbon Emissions--An Empirical Study Based on the Micro Perspective of the Family

The problem of population aging and global warming has become a common concern of all countries in the world. The population aging will not only change the demographic structure at the macro level,but also profoundly affect the demographic structure within the family. Therefore,under the background of the aging population in China and the environmental problem has become widespread concern of the society,the research on the relationship between population aging characteristics and carbon emissions at the household level is of great theoretical and practical significance. The article uses the cross-sectional data of China Household Finance Survey Data(CHFS)in 2013 to conduct an empirical study on the relationship between population aging and carbon emissions from the household level. The results show that there is a significant negative correlation between the aging characteristics of households and household carbon emissions. In fact,the characteristics of household aging can help reduce the carbon emission level of households. The main families where the elderly and young people live together are more"energy-saving and environmentally friendly". This conclusion is different from people’s general perception. Therefore,the government-related social policies should encourage and guide the elderly to live with the young people,affect the family’s consumption behavior and consumption structure through the lifestyle and consumption habits of the elderly,and then transform the family towards environmentally friendly families.