Abstract
This paper examines the endogenous evolution of household consumption patterns and household carbon emissions
(HCEs) by integrating the analysis methods of income distribution with climate change. Based on a largescale
household survey spanning from 2012 to 2016 in China, we estimated the direct and indirect HCEs, observed
inverse U-shaped Carbon Kuznets Curves (CKC) and significant changes in HCEs over the period at the
household level. Applying the Oaxaca-Blinder method, we decomposed factors causing the changes in HCEs
and found that income and demographic effects contribute only 25.1% to the total increase of HCEs. The other
74.9% remain unexplained and we define them as the effect of intertemporal lifestyle changes. Further analysis
from multiple perspectives illustrates that the lifestyles of households across various social strata are becoming
increasingly higher carbon-intensive over time even though the income remains unchanged. The findings indicate
that existing modeling and projections of carbon emissions based on income and household characteristics
may underestimate the future emissions pressure from the household sector. Hence, we conclude that in order to
reach more meaningful results, the increasing effect of lifestyles should be taken into account when conducting
climate change studies and formulating climate policies.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Journal | Energy Economics |
Volume | 86 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2020 |