Regional variation in carbon emissions and its driving forces in China: An index decomposition analysis

This paper aims to investigate the factors affecting carbon emissions from the perspective of residential energy consumption. Specifically, through an index decomposition analysis (IDA), it examines the influence of social and economic factors on household carbon emissions in China's provinces. The results show that CO₂ emissions associated with household consumption continued to grow during the decade of 2000-2010. In general, per capita consumption expenditure and the share of energy consumption expenditure in total consumption spending are two main factors contributing to an increase in residential carbon emissions, while the change of energy consumption structure and energy price mitigated the growth of carbon emissions. However, there are considerable regional differences. Therefore, Chinese government must consider the substantial contribution of residential consumption to carbon emissions when it aims to expand domestic consumption.