Empirical linkages of the construction sector, intensive energy consumption, and economic openness with chemical oxygen demand pollution.

Though construction sector development and economic openness contribute to regional economic development, they have also been debated to pose some environmental challenges. Along these lines, we explored the long- and short-term connections of intensive energy consumption, economic openness, and construction sector development with the chemical oxygen demand throughout the scales of regional development of China's 30 provincial units over the 2004-2021 period. Theoretically, we contribute to the existing knowledge by incorporating chemical oxygen demand pollution, construction sector development, and economic openness to the Kaya identity's baseline framework. Empirically, we apply a series of advanced methods of panel data econometrics for robust results. Our key findings are as follows: First, we revealed a long-term stable cointegrating association among our variables of interest. Second, using the common correlated effect mean group estimator, we unfolded that the intensive energy consumption showed a chemical oxygen demand pollution reduction influence in both the long and short term, demonstrating the most substantial influence in the high regional development panel while expressing the least powerful influence the least regional development setting. Third, we unveiled that economic openness and construction sector development showed a linear chemical oxygen demand pollution enhancement influence in moderately and least developed regions. Nevertheless, both established an inverted U-shaped linkage with chemical oxygen demand pollution for the whole country as well as for high regional development data samples. Eventually, we found consistent estimates across long- and short-term investigations regarding signs of relationships; however, long-term effects remained more powerful than short-term ones. These findings would serve as factual scientific knowledge to help local as well as national governments create the optimal environmental regulations for the construction sector to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs), especially the Climate Action Plan (i.e., SDG-13).

Empirics on linking industrial agglomeration, energy consumption, residential construction sector growth, and environmental sustainability.

We looked at the long-term and short-term diversified relationships between industrial agglomeration, aggregate energy consumption, residential construction sector growth, and air pollution in China's 30 provincial units from 2004 through 2020. We contributed to the existing knowledge by calculating a holistic air pollution index (API) and applying advanced methods. We also augmented the Kaya identity by including industrial agglomeration and residential construction sector growth in the baseline framework. Based on empirical results: First, we revealed long-term stability among our covariates through panel cointegration analysis. Second, we uncovered a positive bilateral relationship between residential construction sector growth and industrial agglomeration in the long and short term. Third, we unfolded a unilateral positive correlation emerging from aggregate energy consumption to API, displaying the greatest influence in the east zone of China. Fourth, we observed a unilateral positive connection stemming from industrial agglomeration and residential construction sector growth to aggregate energy consumption and API in the long- and short-term dimensions. Finally, the linking nature was homogeneously prevailing across the long term and short term; however, the long-term impact size outweighed that of the short term. Given our empirical results, useful policy insights are discussed to provide the readers with a take-home message for substantiating sustainable development goals.

Heterogeneous links among urban concentration, non-renewable energy use intensity, economic development, and environmental emissions across regional development levels.

This study examined the long-run and short-run heterogeneous links among urban concentration, non-renewable energy use intensity, economic development, and environmental emissions index across the regional development levels of 31 Chinese provinces. By employing the augmented mean group method and Dumitrescu-Hurlin causality, the following results are drawn: Firstly, a bidirectional positive linkage was existent between the economic development and urban concentration in both the long-run and short-run across regional development levels. Secondly, a unidirectional positive linkage emerged from non-renewable energy use intensity to environmental emissions index, with the most influential effect in EER China (highest development level). Thirdly, bidirectional mixed linkages prevailed between economic development and non-renewable energy use intensity. Economic development mitigated the non-renewable energy use intensity (inverted U-shaped curve) in the national data set and EER China (highest development level); nevertheless, the linear linkage was observed in IER China (medium development level) and WER China (lowest development level). Fourthly, unidirectional mixed linkages were found from urban concentration to non-renewable energy use intensity and environmental emissions index. Urban concentration demonstrated a U-shaped linkage with non-renewable energy use intensity and environmental emissions index in the national data set and EER China. But it unveiled a linear linkage with both variables in IER China and WER China. Fifthly, economic development showed an environmental Kuznets curve with environmental emissions index in the national data set and EER China. Conversely, it showed a linear linkage with the environmental emissions index in IER China and WER China. In turn, the environmental emissions index linearly hampered the economic development in the national data set as well as regional samples. Finally, the long-run and short-run effects showed homogeneity of the linkages' nature; yet, the degree of effects in the long-run surpassed those in the short-run for all development levels.