How Does Financial Development Affect Reductions in Carbon Emissions in High-Energy Industries?—A Perspective on Technological Progress

• Main Authors: Yingying Zhou, Zhuoqing Fang, Nan Li, Xueyan Wu, Yuehan Du, Zonghan Liu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-08-01
• Series: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• Subjects: high-energy industries; carbon emission reduction; financial development; technological progress; panel-threshold effect
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/17/3018

Climate change has made countries around the world realize the importance of reducing carbon emissions. Reductions in carbon emissions needs the support of policy, technology, and financial capital. The single/double/three-threshold model is used here with data from China to study the different impact of financial development in carbon emissions in high-energy industries when the threshold variables are in different intervals. The results show that when loan size is the core explanatory variable, and research and development (R and D) expenditure and energy structure are the threshold variables, the loan size variable has a significant effect on emission reductions in high-energy industries, and this effect is strengthened with increases in R and D expenditure and decreases in the proportion of energy from coal. Taking energy intensity as the threshold variable, the relationship between loan size and carbon dioxide emissions is V-shaped. With economic structure as the threshold variable, loan size has a significant effect on emissions reduction when the proportion of industrial added value in high-energy industries is low. When using foreign investment as the core explanatory variable, R and D expenditure, energy consumption intensity, and industrial structure are threshold variables. The impact of foreign investment on carbon dioxide emissions is negative, but when the threshold variable is within different intervals, this negative impact differs. With stock market value as the core explanatory variable, and R and D expenditure and energy structure as the threshold variables, the stock market value can promote reductions in carbon emissions, but when R and D expenditure and the proportion of coal consumption is high, stock market value has no significant effect on emissions reduction. When energy consumption intensity is the threshold variable, the relationship between stock market value and carbon dioxide emissions is V-shaped.