The natural gas consumption and mortality nexus: A mediation analysis

Hui Li, Jun Zhao, Ruining Zhang and Bingdong Hou

Energy, 2022, vol. 248, issue C

Abstract: Boosting natural gas consumption can contribute to a healthy China. To examine the link between natural gas consumption and mortality, this study utilizes a balanced panel dataset including 30 Chinese provinces from 2001 to 2019. The fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) method is employed to reveal the long-term cointegration, and the Dumitrescu and Hurlin (D-H) test is further applied to explore the causal relations. Moreover, this study estimates the mediation effects of particulate matter (PM2.5) emissions on mortality. The empirical results indicate that climbing natural gas consumption can effectively reduce the mortality rate. At the national level, a 1% increase in natural gas consumption leads to a 0.02% decrease in the mortality rate. In addition, the causality analysis uncovers the existence of significant regional heterogeneity. An increase in natural gas consumption will exert a stronger impact in curbing mortality in high gross domestic product (High-GDP) or high natural gas consumption (High-NG) regions. In addition to directly affecting mortality, natural gas consumption also has an indirect impact through the mediation effects of PM2.5 emissions. Finally, implications for policy and practice are put forward for the Chinese government pertaining to build a healthy China and advance the natural gas industry.

Keywords: Natural gas consumption; Mortality; PM2.5 emissions; Mediation analysis; Healthy China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:248:y:2022:i:c:s0360544222004807

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2022.123577

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