Determinants of production-based and consumption-based CO2 emissions: a comparative analysis

The aim of this paper is to compare production-based CO2 emissions (PBE-CO2) with consumption-based CO2 emissions (CBE-CO2), with particular focus on their determinants. The results reveal that several OECD countries have a negative trade balance in terms of CO2 emissions. The decoupling analysis over 1990-2012 also shows that the degree of decoupling between economic growth and CO2 emissions is less strong in terms of consumption-based emissions (CBE) than in terms of production-based emissions (PBE) for several OECD countries. Using panel data from 98 countries over the period 1990-2012, the results show that the elasticities (in absolute terms) of imports, exports and GDP per capita are larger on CBECO2than on PBE-CO2 for non-OECD countries. However, the coefficients estimated of independent variables have generally the same signs for both types of CO2 emissions indicators.