In the process of urbanization, energy consumption has significant effect on
carbon emissions. The aim of this paper is to analyze the impact of urbanization
on carbon emissions for different income levels across 29 provinces of
China during 1995-2015. The improved STIRPAT model provides the theoretical
foundation for this research. Then, the threshold analysis was used to
assess the effect of urbanization on carbon emissions. On the basis of the average
annual income, two threshold points that divide the whole sample into
three groups were identified, namely, 1) an average annual income of 7400
RMB and 2) an average annual income of 16,250 RMB. The result shows that
effect of urbanization on CO2 emissions varies in terms of income stages and
specific regions. Finally, the policy implication was discussed.
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