Towards green recovery: Platform economy and its impact on carbon emissions in China

China's economy and environment urgently require a green recovery as COVID-19's consequences expand over time, and the platform economy is a practical means of pursuing this goal. By employing the Generalized Divisia Index Method (GDIM), this paper aims to analyze the impact of platform economy on carbon emissions in China during the period 2013-2020. Overall, the platform economy has increased carbon emissions, but there was a decrease in carbon emissions in the platform economy between 2014 and 2016. The scale factors of platform economy are the primary contributors to the increase in China's overall emissions and most provincial carbon emissions, while the carbon intensity of platform economy factors contributes most to the decrease in carbon emissions. In particular, the carbon intensity of platform economy factors promoted the most cumulative carbon emissions in Jiangsu, Heilongjiang, Yunnan, Qinghai, and Ningxia between 2013 and 2020, and the energy intensity of platform economy factors reduced most of the cumulative carbon emissions of Heilongjiang, Yunnan, Qinghai, and Xinjiang during the same period. From the perspective of the heterogeneity of platform economic development, the main contributors of carbon mitigation from high-platform economic provinces are intensity effects. However, the platform economic structure of low-platform economic provinces significantly reduces carbon emissions. In addition, we also found significant differences in the factors influencing emissions in different groups under the influence of the pandemic. Finally, we provide some valuable references for China's platform economic development to achieve carbon neutralitytargets. (c) 2023 Economic Society of Australia, Queensland. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

China's economy and environment are in urgent need of a green recovery, and the platform economy offers a practical solution. Using the Generalized Divisia Index Method (GDIM), this study examines the impact of the platform economy on China's carbon emissions from 2013 to 2020. Overall, the platform economy has increased carbon emissions, but there was a decrease between 2014 and 2016. The scale factors of the platform economy contribute to the overall increase in carbon emissions, while the carbon intensity factors contribute to the decrease. The study also identifies differences in emissions factors among different groups during the pandemic.