Effects of Human Capital on Energy Consumption: The Role of Income Inequality
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Literature Review
2.1. Studies on the Human Capital–Energy Consumption Nexus
2.2. Driving Factors of Energy Consumption
3. Conceptual Framework and Research Hypotheses
3.1. Influence Mechanism of Human Capital on Energy Consumption
3.2. Nonlinear Impact of Human Capital on Energy Consumption
4. Methods and Data
4.1. Variables and Data Sources
4.1.1. Independent and Dependent Variables
4.1.2. Control and Threshold Variables
4.2. Methods
4.2.1. Benchmark Model
4.2.2. Panel Threshold Regression Model
4.2.3. Mechanism Test
5. Results
5.1. Preliminary Data Analysis
5.2. Baseline Results
5.3. Robustness Tests
5.4. Mediation Effect Analysis
5.5. Panel Threshold Analysis
6. Conclusions
6.1. Conclusions
6.2. Policy Implications
6.3. Future Studies
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Variable Name | Definition |
---|---|
Energy consumption (ec) | The level of energy consumption |
Human capital (hc) | The level of human capital |
Economic development level (gdp) | The GDP per capita |
Capital stock (cs) | The capital stock |
Economic structure (is) | The share of labor input in the tertiary industry |
Financial development level (fd) | The ratio of total credit to GDP |
Population (pop) | The total population |
Trade liberalization level (tra) | The share of total import and export in GDP |
Energy intensity (ei) | The ratio of EC to GDP |
Technological innovation level (rd) | The number of green technology patents granted |
Income inequality (gini) | The average income of the top and bottom 20% of the total population in each province |
Variables | FE | AMG |
---|---|---|
lnhc | −0.006 * | −0.016 * |
(−1.940) | (−1.840) | |
lngdp | 1.049 *** | 0.887 *** |
(68.492) | (46.084) | |
lncs | −0.020 *** | −0.003 |
(−4.535) | (−0.579) | |
lnis | −0.016 * | −0.010 |
(−1.957) | (−1.208) | |
lnfd | 0.014 | −0.052 *** |
(1.157) | (−5.173) | |
lnpop | 0.936 *** | 0.707 *** |
(43.717) | (8.048) | |
lntra | 0.003 | 0.001 |
(1.219) | (0.587) | |
lnei | 0.982 *** | 0.998 *** |
(150.165) | (224.460) | |
lnrd | 0.014 *** | 0.003 * |
(5.220) | (1.861) | |
Constant | −7.900 *** | −4.129 *** |
(−21.627) | (−2.724) | |
Obs | 600 | 600 |
Variables | lnec | lngdp | lnec | lnis | lnec | lnrd |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
lnhc | −0.017 ** | −0.011 | −0.007 ** | 0.057 *** | −0.007 ** | −0.086 ** |
(−2.116) | (−1.453) | (−2.399) | (3.760) | (−2.455) | (−2.096) | |
lngdp | 1.038 *** | 0.137 | 1.062 *** | 1.653 *** | ||
(59.767) | (1.545) | (62.921) | (7.148) | |||
lncs | 0.038 ** | 0.077 *** | −0.042 *** | −0.023 | −0.039 *** | 0.306 *** |
(2.148) | (4.922) | (−6.516) | (−0.701) | (−5.915) | (3.425) | |
lnis | 0.019 | 0.032 | −0.012 | 0.169 | ||
(0.811) | (1.545) | (−1.441) | (1.451) | |||
lnfd | −0.336 *** | −0.299 *** | −0.025 * | 0.037 | −0.012 | 0.936 *** |
(−9.365) | (−9.317) | (−1.781) | (0.513) | (−0.859) | (4.904) | |
lnpop | −0.007 | −0.860 *** | 0.885 *** | 0.124 | 0.909 *** | 1.679 *** |
(−0.137) | (−17.886) | (36.041) | (0.990) | (37.310) | (5.028) | |
lntra | 0.011 | 0.006 | 0.004 | 0.013 | 0.005 | 0.044 |
(1.316) | (0.863) | (1.341) | (0.885) | (1.588) | (1.096) | |
lnei | 0.809 *** | −0.175 *** | 0.990 *** | 0.064 | 0.995 *** | 0.290 ** |
(38.844) | (−9.375) | (121.600) | (1.546) | (120.930) | (2.575) | |
lnrd | 0.067 *** | 0.052 *** | 0.013 *** | 0.023 | ||
(8.305) | (7.148) | (4.222) | (1.451) | |||
Constant | 7.664 *** | 13.954 *** | −6.861 *** | 1.015 | −7.228 *** | −28.621 *** |
(7.604) | (15.448) | (−15.614) | (0.452) | (−16.553) | (−4.785) | |
Observations | 600 | 600 | 600 | 600 | 600 | 600 |
R-squared | 0.980 | 0.845 | 0.997 | 0.661 | 0.997 | 0.962 |
Threshold | RSS | MSE | F | P | 10% | 5% | 1% |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Single | 0.257 | 0.000 | 87.11 | 0.006 | 32.831 | 42.058 | 68.999 |
Double | 0.247 | 0.000 | 24.01 | 0.104 | 24.175 | 28.976 | 37.211 |
Triple | 0.246 | 0.000 | 3.11 | 0.884 | 20.808 | 25.786 | 42.279 |
Variables | Coefficients | Variables | Coefficients |
---|---|---|---|
lngdp | 1.028 *** | lnei | 0.975 *** |
(71.028) | (158.337) | ||
lncs | −0.016 *** | lnrd | 0.016 *** |
(−3.846) | (6.029) | ||
lnis | −0.013 * | lnhc(c < 0.2600) | −0.011 *** |
(−1.694) | (−4.032) | ||
lnfd | 0.018 * | lnhc(c > 0.2600) | −0.004 |
(1.660) | (−1.460) | ||
lnpop | 0.921 *** | Constant | −7.704 *** |
(45.959) | (−22.556) | ||
lntra | 0.004 | Observations | 600 |
(1.423) | R-squared | 0.998 |
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Gao, Y.; Yuan, R.; Zheng, S. Effects of Human Capital on Energy Consumption: The Role of Income Inequality. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 17005. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192417005
Gao Y, Yuan R, Zheng S. Effects of Human Capital on Energy Consumption: The Role of Income Inequality. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022; 19(24):17005. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192417005
Chicago/Turabian StyleGao, Yiping, Rong Yuan, and Shenglin Zheng. 2022. "Effects of Human Capital on Energy Consumption: The Role of Income Inequality" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19, no. 24: 17005. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192417005