Investigating the Determinants of Carbon Emissions Using the Granger Causality Test: Evidence from China’s Main Sectors
-
Chuwei ZhangSchool of Business & Law, Taylor’s University, Subang Jaya, Selangor 47500, MalaysiaAuthor
-
Paul Anthony MariaDasSchool of Business & Law, Taylor’s University, Subang Jaya, Selangor 47500, MalaysiaAuthor
-
Yamunah VaicondamSchool of Business & Law, Taylor’s University, Subang Jaya, Selangor 47500, MalaysiaAuthor
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63385/jemm.v1i1.55Keywords:
ARDL, Carbon Emission, Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality, Economic Growth, Foreign Direct Investment, Policy, The Granger Causality TestAbstract
This study attempts to investigate the key determinants of carbon emissions across China’s major sectors, including transportation, real estate, and industrial sector, throughout the period between 2004 and 2023. Then examine their causal relationship to develop a carbon emission reduction framework. The Auto-Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model and Granger causality test were utilized for analysis. In the long-term, EC and FDI negatively affect CE, while IT positively affects that. In the short-term, CE are positively influenced by FDI and PG, while negatively impacted by EG and EC. Besides, the impacts of these determinants on carbon emissions vary across sectors. Moreover, the analysis reveals bidirectional causality between CE and EG, CE and FDI, and CE and IT, while unidirectional causal relationship is observed with EC driving CE. The finding also reveals that the policies should prioritize low-carbon transitions by integrating sustainability into economic planning and infrastructure development in the “the Five-Year Plans”. This study provides critical policy-relevant insights to guide policymakers in designing effective strategies for carbon emission mitigation. It introduces an innovative sector-specific analysis that identifies key opportunities across different sectors. Additionally, the study proposes a structured policy framework to systematically support China’s carbon goals. By bridging research and practical implementation, this work contributes both theoretically and empirically to the advancement of sustainable development.
References
License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Most Viewed
- Awareness of Porter’s Five Forces Framework: A Research Paper 518
- Foreign Capital Inflows and Financial Development: The Moderating Effects of the Governance Climate and Human Capital across the MEDA Region 442
- Exploring Personality Traits Influences on ESG Leadership for Sustainable, Ethical, and Socially Responsible Organizational Practices Using FIKR Personality Assessment 995
- An Empirical Investigation on the Variables Affecting Electronic Commerce Adoption in Nigeria 960
- Regional Demographic Correlates of Aggregate Readiness for Sustainable Entrepreneurship in the Wielkopolska Region in Poland, 2016 to 2025 834