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Infant mortality rate and nonrenewable energy consumption in Asia and the Pacific: the mediating role of carbon emissions

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Abstract

This study aligns with the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3 which aims to “ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages”. It contributes to the nascent literature stream on energy-health dynamics by introducing a holistic theoretical model to empirically examine the mediation effect of carbon emissions on the relationship between nonrenewable energy and infant mortality rate. Using an unbalanced panel data on 42 Asia and the Pacific countries from 2005 to 2015 and deploying the structural equation modelling (SEM) approach, the empirical results are surmised as follows: (i) for the full sample, nonrenewable energy indirectly increases infant mortality rate through increasing carbon emissions. In other words, carbon emissions play a partial mediation role between nonrenewable energy and infant mortality rate; and (ii) for the different income groups, carbon emissions show varying mediation effects. For example, the mediation effect of carbon emissions in lower-middle and upper-middle income countries are found to be similar to those of the full sample of countries. Therefore, based on these findings, we conclude that nonrenewable energy is an essential determinant of infant mortality rate. Policy recommendations are put forward.

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Fig. 1

Source: Authors’ Computations from World Bank (2020) World Development Indicators

Fig. 2

Source: Authors’ Computations from World Development Indicators (2020), World Bank

Fig. 3

Source: Authors’ construction

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Data availability

Data will be made available upon request.

Notes

  1. High income (11): Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Rep. (South), Macao SAR, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Singapore, and Taiwan. Lower-middle income (20): Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Kiribati, Kyrgyz Republic, Lao PDR, Micronesia, Fed. Sts., Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, and Vietnam. Upper-middle income (11): China, Fiji, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Samoa, Tonga, Turkmenistan, and Tuvalu.

  2. Mediation effect exists if the coefficients of the nonrenewable energy (\({{\varvec{\upeta}}}_{1}\)) and carbon emissions (\({{\varvec{\upalpha}}}_{2}\)) are statistically significant.

  3. Partially sustained = coefficient is positive but statistically not significant.

  4. Partially rejected = coefficient is negative but statistically not significant.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Accountancy, Finance and Economics, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, United Kingdom

    Bosede Ngozi Adeleye

  2. Lincoln International Business School (LIBS), Lincoln, United Kingdom

    Bosede Ngozi Adeleye

  3. Centre for Economic Policy and Development Research (CEPDeR), Ota, Nigeria

    Bosede Ngozi Adeleye

  4. Faculty of Business and Economics, Department of Economics, Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan, Pakistan

    Muhammad Azam

  5. Department of International Logistics and Transportation, Istanbul Gelisim University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Festus Victor Bekun

  6. Adnan Kassar School of Business, Lebanese American University, Beirut, Lebanon

    Festus Victor Bekun

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  1. Bosede Ngozi Adeleye
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Correspondence to Festus Victor Bekun.

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Adeleye, B.N., Azam, M. & Bekun, F.V. Infant mortality rate and nonrenewable energy consumption in Asia and the Pacific: the mediating role of carbon emissions. Air Qual Atmos Health 16, 1333–1344 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-023-01347-8

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