Carbon dioxide emissions, urbanization level, and industrial structure: empirical evidence from North China.

This paper aims to examine the nexus among carbon dioxide (CO) emissions, urbanization level and industrial structure in North China over the period 2004-2019, according to an expanded Cobb-Douglas production function. The panel econometric techniques are employed to complete the empirical analysis, including cross-sectional correlation test, panel unit root test, panel co-integration test, and panel Granger causality test. The empirical results support the long-term equilibrium relationship among CO emissions, urbanization level and industrial structure in North China, and the urbanization level contributes most to CO emissions, followed by fossil energy consumption. Furthermore, the bidirectional causality between CO emissions and urbanization level and unidirectional causality from industrial structure to CO emissions are found in North China, indicating that urbanization level and industrial structure have significant impacts on CO emissions. Finally, according to the empirical findings, several policy suggestions are proposed for the purpose of reducing CO emissions in North China.