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The impact of health expenditure and economic growth on CO2 in China: a quantile regression model approach

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Abstract

Based on the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis and using Chinese provincial panel data from 2002 to 2019, this study examines how different types of healthcare expenditure and levels of economic development and energy consumption contribute to carbon emissions regionally. Considering the wide regional differences in the development levels of China, this paper uses quantile regressions and draws the following robust conclusions: (1) The EKC hypothesis was validated by all methods in eastern China. (2) The carbon emission reduction of government, private, and social health expenditure is confirmed. Furthermore, the impact of health expenditure on carbon reduction decreases from East to West. (3) Government, private, and social health expenditure all cause reductions in CO2 emissions, with private health expenditure having the largest negative effect on CO2 emissions, followed by government health expenditure and finally social health expenditure. Overall, the limited empirical work available on the impact of different kinds of health expenditure on carbon emission in the existing literature, this study greatly assists policy makers and researchers to understand the importance of health expenditure in improving environmental performance.

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Notes

  1. The eastern region includes Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Liaoning, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Shandong, Guangdong, and Hainan and the middle region includes Heilongjiang, Jilin, Shanxi, Anhui, Jiangxi, Henan, Hubei, and Hunan provinces, while the western region includes Inner Mongolia, Guangxi, Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Tibet, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, and Xinjiang.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their gratitude to colleagues who patiently reviewed this article.

Funding

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support from National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 72274115, 71874103), the Shanxi planning office of philosophy and social science (No. 2022YD023).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Management and Decision, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, 030006, China

    Weihua Qu

  2. School of Economics and Management, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, 030006, China

    Weihua Qu & Zhuorui Wang

  3. School of Management and Engineering, Shanxi University of Finance and Economics, Taiyuan, 030006, China

    Guohua Qu

  4. School of Public Administration, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, 430073, Wuhan, China

    Zhuorui Wang

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  1. Weihua Qu
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All the authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Weihua, Zhuorui, and Guohua. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Zhuorui and Weihua. All the authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Weihua Qu.

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Qu, W., Wang, Z. & Qu, G. The impact of health expenditure and economic growth on CO2 in China: a quantile regression model approach. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 80613–80627 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-27917-y

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