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RESEARCH PRODUCT
Evolution of the Global Distribution of Carbon Dioxide: A Finite Mixture Analysis
Michael S. DelgadoChristopher F. ParmeterMichele Battistisubject
MacroeconomicsEconomics and EconometricsFinite mixturePublic economicsjel:C30Carbon emissions; Emissions groups; Heterogeneity; Abatement policy; Finite mixture modelsCarbon emissionjel:C38Climate change mitigationGlobal distributionGreenhouse gasAbatement policyEconomicsHeterogeneityVolatility (finance)Settore SECS-P/01 - Economia PoliticaEmpirical evidenceEmissions groupFinite mixture modeldescription
Economists and environmental policymakers have recently begun advocating a bottom-up approach to climate change mitigation, focusing on reduction targets for groups of nations, rather than large scale global policies. We advance this discussion by taking a quantitative perspective, focusing on econometric identification of groups of countries that have statistically similar distributions of carbon emissions using a broad range of finite mixture models. Nearly all of our results yield a consistent pattern: after 1980, there are two distinct emissions distributions, and that these distributions continue to evolve over time. We provide a rigorous analysis of these distributional differences along several important dimensions: polarization, mobility, and volatility. We discuss how this robust quantitative evidence may aid policymakers in forging a heterogeneous carbon abatement policy.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-11-01 |