The influence of democracy on emissions and energy efficiency in America: New evidence from quantile regression analysis

This study explores whether the development of democracy can significantly affect CO2 emissions and the energy efficiencies in the countries. Database reference from Freedom House, Polity IV project and World Development Indicator was applied to analyze the relationship between the democracy development, CO2 emissions and the energy efficiency of 26 countries in America from the year 1990 to 2013. Empirical result shows that the deepening democracy has a significant impact on the reduction of national CO2 emissions and brings a positive influence on energy efficiency. The further application of quantile regression also indicates that the influence of democratization on CO2 emissions and countries' energy efficient scores is significant. The empirical results may reflect the reduction of emission or the improvement of energy efficient outcome from the enhancement of democratic institution.