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The Effect of Internet Use on Air Quality: Evidence from Low-Income Countries

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Econometrics of Green Energy Handbook

Abstract

This chapter aims at analyzing the effects of information and communications technology (ICT) on air pollution level of low-income country panel over the period 1995–2015. In order to achieve this, the second-generation panel data models allowing for cross-sectional dependence have been employed. The long-run estimation results indicate that percentage of Internet users, a proxy for ICTs, leads to an increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) emission level in low-income countries. Besides, among the control variables of the model, income and energy consumption appear to increase to CO2 emission level while financial development and trade openness do not have any significant effects on air quality level of low-income country panel. Based on these results, a number of policy implications could be suggested. For instance, investments into the ICT sector should be encouraged by both government and private sector via subsidies and grants.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    “Information and communications technology (ICT) is a broader term for information technology (IT), which refers to all communication technologies, including the Internet, wireless networks, cell phones, computers, software, middleware, videoconferencing, social networking, and other media applications and services enabling users to access, retrieve, store, transmit, and manipulate information in a digital form” (see http://aims.fao.org/es/information-and-communication-technologies-ict).

  2. 2.

    (See https://datahelpdesk.worldbank.org/knowledgebase/articles/906519).

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  1. Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Economics, Firat University, 23200, Elazig, Turkey

    Burcu Ozcan & Esma Gultekin Tarla

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  1. School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China

    Muhammad Shahbaz

  2. Department of Political Economy and Public Finance, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Cuenca, Spain

    Daniel Balsalobre-Lorente

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Ozcan, B., Tarla, E.G. (2020). The Effect of Internet Use on Air Quality: Evidence from Low-Income Countries. In: Shahbaz, M., Balsalobre-Lorente, D. (eds) Econometrics of Green Energy Handbook. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46847-7_3

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