访学归国报告：lifestyle change and house carbon emission：Evidence from a China Household Survey
主讲人：王珂英
时 间：2019年04月11日 14：00-15：30
地 点：低碳经济学院会议室（明辨楼110室）
摘 要：
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 large-scale household survey spanning from 2012 to 2016 in China, we estimate the direct and indirect HCEs, and observe Carbon Kuznets Curves (CKC) and significant changes over the period at the household level. Applying the Oaxaca-Blinder method, we decompose factors causing the changes in HCEs and find that income and demographic effects contribute only 21% to the total increase of HCEs. The other 79% 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 modelling 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.