Impact of urbanization, economic growth, and population size on residential carbon emissions in the SAARC countries

Abstract

This study attempts to analyse the influence of urbanization, economic growth, and population size on residential carbon emissions in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) member nations for the period 1994 to 2013. To do so, we employ an augmented STIRPAT model in an ecological analytic framework with a fixed effect regression model that incorporates Driscoll and Kraay standard errors. The results show that population size and per capita GDP are leading drivers of high carbon emissions in the SAARC countries. The empirical results show that a U-shaped relationship exists between urbanization and residential carbon emissions: residential carbon emissions initially decrease with an increase in urbanization, reach a turning point at 25.33% and then increase with urbanization. Thus, our findings suggest a need for stronger national policies to control the impact of urbanization and population growth on residential carbon emissions in the SAARC member countries.