The effect of economic development on carbon intensity of human well-being: Evidence from spatial econometric analyses

Improving the carbon intensity of human well-being is important not only for nations to improve the lives of their citizens, but also for the world community at large as a means of sustainable development. Based on panel data from 114 nations (or regions) over the period of 1980–2014, this study constructed an index of the carbon intensity of human well-being, and use spatial autocorrelation to explore the pattern of its spatial evolution as well as the characteristics of its spatial clusters. The spatial Durbin model was applied to identify the relationship between economic development and the carbon intensity of human well-being. We drew the following conclusions: First, the carbon intensity of human well-being declined significantly, with spatial differentiation between the high-high and low-low clusters, and a significant gap between developed (or regions) and developing nations. Second, economic development, energy consumption, trade, and mortality rate have increased the carbon intensity of human well-being while industrialization and capital accumulation have reduced it. Third, the dynamic evolution of the carbon intensity of human well-being by various drivers has a regional heterogeneous structure. In particularly, the positive impact of economic development on the carbon intensity of human well-being showed the largest impact on Latin American developing countries, followed by Asian developing and developed countries (or regions), and the smallest impact on African developing countries. Finally, prominent spatial spillover effects were observed on the drivers of the carbon intensity of human well-being. An increase in a nation's neighbors' energy consumption, trade, and industrialization increased its carbon intensity of human well-being, whereas increasing economic development, capital accumulation, and mortality rate had the opposite effect. These empirical insights provide an important decision-making reference for countries with different levels of economic development to choose appropriate policies and cross-regional governance mechanisms.