The impact of health expenditure and economic growth on CO2 in China: a quantile regression model approach

Based on the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis and using Chinese provincial panel data from 2002 to 2019, this study examines how different types of healthcare expenditure and levels of economic development and energy consumption contribute to carbon emissions regionally. Considering the wide regional differences in the development levels of China, this paper uses quantile regressions and draws the following robust conclusions: (1) The EKC hypothesis was validated by all methods in eastern China. (2) The carbon emission reduction of government, private, and social health expenditure is confirmed. Furthermore, the impact of health expenditure on carbon reduction decreases from East to West. (3) Government, private, and social health expenditure all cause reductions in CO2 emissions, with private health expenditure having the largest negative effect on CO2 emissions, followed by government health expenditure and finally social health expenditure. Overall, the limited empirical work available on the impact of different kinds of health expenditure on carbon emission in the existing literature, this study greatly assists policy makers and researchers to understand the importance of health expenditure in improving environmental performance.