Social capital, economic development and carbon emissions: Empirical evidence from counties in Sweden

George Marbuah

doi:10.1016/j.rser.2021.111691

Several studies have found empirical evidence for the role of social capital in environmental management, where a high level of social capital reduces emissions of pollutants. Other studies point out a negative relation between income and environmental performance. The authors of this new research examine if and how social capital explains Swedish county-level per capita CO₂ emissions together with income in the period 2000–2017.

Marbuah, G., Gren, I.-M., and Tafesse Tirkaso, W. (2021). Social capital, economic development and carbon emissions: Empirical evidence from counties in Sweden. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 152:111691. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2021.111691.

The authors constructed a social capital composite index and tested different specifications of impacts on CO₂ emissions of social capital and income and functional forms, linear and non-linear. The system generalized method of moments is used to account for endogeneity in the presence of dynamic and spatial effects.

Results show significant negative and positive effects of social capital and income on emissions, respectively. The authors conclude that enhanced trust and civic engagement could complement other public policy mechanisms in driving down CO₂ emissions.

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