Ecological footprint, human capital, and urbanization

Abstract

The rapid development of the world economy has been accompanied by a significant increase in ecological footprint. Represented by population agglomeration, urbanization has exacerbated environmental pressure, but the improvements in the levels of human capital may offset this negative impact. This research thus uses cross-country data from 110 economies over the period 1990–2016 to explore the correlations among human capital, urbanization, and ecological footprint. The findings show that first, from a global perspective, human capital initially increases and then reduces ecological footprint. The analysis based on sub-samples shows that human capital of the high-income group decreases ecological footprint, whereas human capital of the low-income group and that of countries with large populations raise ecological footprint. Second, urbanization plays a linear moderating role in human capital’s impact on the ecological footprint. The higher the level of urbanization is, the higher is the turning point of human capital that is needed to improve environmental quality. Third, when the population size is larger or ecological footprint is greater, the turning point of human capital is higher under the same urbanization level. Therefore, countries should continue to enhance human capital to promote the upgrading of industrial structure, green technology innovation, and changes in energy-saving lifestyle. Moreover, it is beneficial for countries to pay close attention to the negative impact of population size or accelerated urbanization on environmental quality.

Gender gap and ecological footprint: are there country variations? Evidence from quantile panel regression

“…The negative association between footprint and human capital is stemming from the fact that human capital entails better education that affects the human collective conscious behavior toward resource consumption and the adoption of energy-saving technology (Jarvis et al , 2011). Alternatively (Chen et al , 2021; Ahmed and Wang, 2019) confirmed that human capital increase EFP in the short run then decreased it in the long run. They argued that countries in the low-income level struggle with enhancing the standards of living and education level of their human capital which entails more depletion of resources.…”

“…Alternatively (Chen et al, 2021;Ahmed and Wang, 2019) confirmed that human capital increase EFP in the short run then decreased it in the long run. They argued that countries in the low-income level struggle with enhancing the standards of living and education level of their human capital which entails more depletion of resources.…”

Does renewable energy consumption reduce energy ecological footprint: evidence from China

“…While the results of Cui et al (2022) showed that the urbanization level increased the EF, further clarifying their relationship. The higher the urbanization level was, the higher the human capital required to improve environmental quality (Chen et al 2021), that is, the urbanization level affected EF and hindered sustainable development (Gupta et al 2022). However, whether urbanization level drives or hinders EF's growth also needs to consider the country's income level.…”

Fear in a Handful of Dust: The Epidemiological, Environmental, and Economic Drivers of Death by PM2.5 Pollution

“…During this intermediate stage, the pollution rate stagnates despite economic growth. A final techniques effect takes hold as increased economic development replaces obsolete technologies with cleaner ones and reduces pollution [56][57][58][59]. An alternative account for the emergence of the inverted U-shaped curve attributes superior environmental performance at higher income levels to environmental transition theory, by which better developed economies export pollution-intensive activities to less developed trade partners [60][61][62].…”