Anna A. Maximova, Nadezhda V. Nikolaeva, Sergey A. Salii, Irina S. Semina Assessing the Impact of Economic and Institutional Factors on CO2 Emissions

Abstract

This work focuses on the study of factors affecting carbon dioxide emissions in 118 countries in 1996–2014. We use the generalized moment method and the panel model with fixed effects to study the influence of GDP, financial development, the quality of institutions, the openness of trade and energy consumption on CO₂ emissions. Increased energy consumption and increased exports are driving up CO₂ emissions. This suggests that countries with a higher level of production need to switch to more environmentally friendly types of production and to renewable energy. The quality of institutions increases emissions. The reason for this is that institutions with high quality increase GDP. The growth of GDP and the development of the economy in the early stages increase carbon dioxide emissions, but after a certain threshold, emissions begin to decline. A high level of economic development leads to a reduction in emissions. This is also confirmed by the fact that the improvement of the financial sector leads to a reduction in emissions. 

Key words: carbon dioxide emissions, ecology, climate change.

JEL codes: Q51, Q53, Q54.