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Tales from the tails: sector-level carbon intensity distribution

Doda, Baran (2018) Tales from the tails: sector-level carbon intensity distribution. Climate Change Economics, 9 (4). ISSN 2010-0078

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Identification Number: 10.1142/S2010007818500112

Abstract

The level of GDP, its sector composition and the carbon intensity of individual sectors together determine a country’s emissions. To evaluate the contribution of changes in each determinant, I construct counterfactual emissions scenarios in a sample consisting of 34 sectors in 37 countries over 1995-2009. I compare these scenarios quantitatively using a novel metric, namely the relative cumulative emissions. I find that the composition of output and the carbon intensity of sectors individually or jointly constrained emissions in a large majority of countries. This motivates an analysis of high- and low-carbon intensity sectors, denoted HCI and LCI, where emissions and value-added tend to be concentrated, respectively. I document the cross-country variation in HCI sectors’ carbon intensity and show it declines over time largely due to improvements in developing countries. HCI sectors tend to account for a smaller share of employment; be more capital intensive; and employ a workforce with a lower average skill level. Employment declined in HCI sectors and increased in LCI sectors with its composition shifting towards high-skilled workers in both. Capital intensity growth was faster but multifactor productivity growth was slower in HCI sectors.

Item Type: Article
Official URL: https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscinet/cce
Additional Information: © 2018 World Scientific Publishing Company
Divisions: Grantham Research Institute
Subjects: G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences
Date Deposited: 01 Oct 2018 10:40
Last Modified: 14 Sep 2024 21:45
Projects: ES/K006576/1, S/M008436/1
Funders: Economic & Social Research Council
URI: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/90281

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