Shopping online: E-commerce and household carbon emissions in China

The rapid development of e-commerce has significantly reshaped consumption behaviors, influencing both the scale and the structure of household consumption and its associated carbon emissions. As China strives for a low-carbon transition, understanding the environmental implications of e-commerce becomes crucial for policymakers. This study investigates the impact of e-commerce development on household consumption-based carbon emissions in China via a nationwide survey and e-commerce data. Overall, the findings reveal a significant and positive impact of e-commerce on household carbon emissions in China: e-commerce development leads to a 5.5% increase in per capita emissions. This impact is driven mainly by an increase in consumption following a reduction in trading costs (scale effect) and an increase in entertainment and personal development consumption coupled with reduced transportation consumption (structure effect). Further study reveals evidence of e-commerce-induced carbon inequality, as the scale and structure effects are concentrated in high-carbon emission households, which are characterized by better economic conditions, smaller household sizes, greater education, and younger ages. Additionally, regression decomposition suggests that the scale and structure effects account for 22.4% and 30.7%, respectively, of the increase in household carbon emissions from 2014 to 2018. These findings highlight the importance of integrating the evolving dynamics of e-commerce into the design and implementation of targeted policies aimed at fostering sustainable consumption patterns.