Urbanization, Human Inequality, and Material Consumption

Shuai Zhang, Dajian Zhu and Lilian Li ()
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Shuai Zhang: College of Design and Innovation, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
Dajian Zhu: School of Economics and Management, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
Lilian Li: School of Economics, Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, Nanchang 330013, China

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 5, 1-18

Abstract: Global material consumption needs to be reduced to be within its planetary boundary. Urbanization and human inequality are two profound economic-social phenomena, which have potential impacts on material consumption. This paper aims to empirically explore how urbanization and human inequality affect material consumption. For this aim, four hypotheses are proposed and the coefficient of human inequality and material footprint per capita are employed to measure comprehensive human inequality and consumption-based material consumption, respectively. Based on an unbalanced panel data set of around 170 countries from 2010 to 2017, the regression estimations demonstrate that: (1) urbanization reduces material consumption; (2) human inequality increases material consumption; (3) the interaction effect between urbanization and human inequality reduces material consumption; (4) urbanization reduces human inequality, which explains why the interaction effect works; (5) urbanization makes more sense for reducing material consumption if the extents of human inequality are larger and the positive impacts of human inequality on material consumption are weakened if the extents of urbanization are larger. It is concluded that promoting urbanization and reducing human inequality are compatible with both ecological sustainability and social fairness. This paper contributes to understanding and achieving the absolute decoupling between economic-social development and material consumption.

Keywords: urbanization; human inequality; material consumption; coefficient of human inequality; material footprint (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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