Assessing the Impact of Income Inequality and Economic Factors on National Carbon Emissions

Author(s): Yuanjing Zhu

In this study, we focused on better understanding and modeling economic factors into a nation’s carbon emissions. Our analysis highlights this objective in a two-folded manner, centered on how different economic status groups affect a nation’s carbon footprint as well as using key economic and demographic characteristics to categorize nations into high, medium, or low carbon emitters. Utilizing the World Inequality Database (WID), we obtained data on income inequality, national wealth, national income, population, and carbon footprints from ten countries worldwide in a 20-year time frame. We successfully developed two generalized models and concluded that the bottom 50% income bracket accounts for the most carbon emissions within a country. Additionally, by analyzing the values of national income, wealth, and population, we derived a model that predicts and categorizes a country’s emission level with 93% accuracy. These conclusions can potentially assist countries in understanding their global standing and facilitates policy-making to control carbon emissions.

Carbon Footprint, Income Inequality, Economic Factors, Generalized Mixed Models, Environmental Policy

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