Do Aging and Low Fertility Reduce Carbon Emissions in Korea? Evidence from IPAT Augmented EKC Analysis

The purpose of this article is to empirically find the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) relationship between income and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions and to analyze the influence of population aging on such emissions. We utilize Korean regional panel data of 16 provinces during the period from 1998 to 2016. To account for the nonstationary time series in the panel, we employ a fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) and estimate long-run elasticity. From the empirical results, we can find the nonlinear relationship between income and CO₂ emissions. Additionally, we verify the fact that population aging reduces CO₂ emissions. A 1% increase in the proportion of the elderly results in a 0.4% decrease in CO₂ emissions. On the other hand, the younger population increases CO₂ emissions. These results were in line with those of additional analysis on residential and transportation CO₂ emissions, for the robustness check.