Essays on the Energy Sector and the Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis: Macro and Micro perspectives

这项预期的研究将使用新的方法和最新的数据集，测试环境库兹涅茨曲线(EKC)假说是否经验性地适用于宏观和微观层面与能源部门有关的广泛环境指标。EKC理论假设，环境退化随着收入的增加而增加，在达到一定的收入门槛后开始下降。换句话说，环境压力和收入指标之间应该存在倒U型关系。基于三篇论文，计划的研究工作将：(I)用最新数据更新先前研究的结果；(Ii)根据较新的经验策略检查过去的研究结果；(Iii)允许使用相同数据的经验框架之间的比较，以确定哪些框架能产生更有利或更不有利的估计；(Iv)在第一篇文章中使用结合长期增长率、IV和分位数方法的新策略。这将解决文献中使用的模型所面临的主要计量经济学问题；(V)在第二篇文章中，通过使用最大似然法确定哪些因素可以解释某些国家存在EKC以及转折点的水平。审查的渠道将包括清洁技术的可获得性、良好的机构、人口中的环境价值观和能源政策的实施；(Vi)通过审查不同国家住房部门的微观证据，探索从理论上解释EKC形态的直接渠道。特别是，我们将努力调查家庭层面的收入和能源消耗之间的关系是否在每个国家都是相同的。我们还将审查能源消耗水平在多大程度上是由个人直接决定或由住房单位和所消费商品的性质所产生的间接渠道引起的。

The intended research will test whether the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis empirically holds for a wide range of environmental indicators linked to the energy sector both at the macro and micro levels by using novel methodological approaches and the most recent datasets. The EKC theory postulates that environmental degradation increases as income goes up and starts declining after a certain income threshold is reached. Put another way, there should be an inverted U-shaped relationship between environmental pressure and income indicators. Based on three essays, the intended research work will: (i) update findings from previous studies with the most recent data; (ii) examine past research findings in the light of more recent empirical strategies; (iii) allow comparisons between empirical frameworks using the same data to see which ones generate more or less favourable estimates; (iv) use a novel strategy combining long-term growth rates, IV and quantile approaches in the first essay. This will address the major econometric problems faced by models used in the literature;(v) determine which factors explain the existence of an EKC for some countries and the level of the turning point by using a maximum likelihood approach in the second essay. The channels examined will include the availability of clean technologies, good institutions, environmental values within the population and the implementation of energy policies; (vi) explore a direct channel that theoretically explains the EKC shape by examining micro-evidence in the housing sector in different countries. In particular, we will try to investigate whether the relationship between income and energy consumption at the household level is the same in every country. We will also examine the extent to which the level of energy consumption is induced by direct individual decisions or from indirect channels resulting from the nature of housing units and the goods consumed.