Exploring Sustainable Development and the SDGs 3, 4, and 8 Using the Carbon Intensity of Human Well-Being and Longitudinal Multilevel Modeling
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Literature Review
2.1. Sustainability
2.2. Education and Economic Growth
2.3. Health and Well-Being and Economic Growth
3. Methodology
3.1. Research Questions
- RQ1: To what extent are the SDGs, good health and well-being and education, at a country level, associated with the economic growth SDGs for the years 2000–2020? The research variables are presented in Table 1.
3.2. Data and MLM Model
3.3. The Sample
4. Results
5. Discussion
6. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
- United Nations. Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; A/70/L.1; UN General Assembly: New York, NY, USA, 2015. [Google Scholar]
- Huan, Y.; Liang, T.; Li, H.; Zhang, C. A systematic method for assessing progress of achieving sustainable development goals: A case study of 15 countries. Sci. Total Environ. 2021, 752, 141875. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Leal Filho, W.; Wolf, F.; Lange Salvia, A.; Beynaghi, A.; Shulla, K.; Kovaleva, M.; Vascincelos, C.R.P. Heading Towards an Unsustainable World: Some of the Implications of Not Achieving the SDGs. Discov. Sustain. 2020, 1. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Purcell, W.M.; Nikolova, M. From a Triple to a Quadruple Bottom Line Sustainability: The Case for Adding “Health Well-Being” to Sustainable Travel and Tourism. Harvard Working Paper Series: Pursuing Sustainability in the Travel and Tourism Sector. 2021. Available online: https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/wendypurcell/files/final_the_new_sustainability_quadruple_bottom_line_02nov21.pdf (accessed on 19 February 2025).
- Kordestani, A.; Peighambari, K.; Foster, T. Emerging trends in sustainability research: A look back as we begin to look forward. Int. J. Environ. Sustain. Dev. 2015, 14, 154–169. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Regmi, K.D. The COVID-19 pandemic, the Sustainable Development Goals on health and education and “least developed countries” such as Nepal. Int. Rev. Educ. 2022, 68, 511–538. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Chansarn, S. Labor productivity growth, education, health and technological progress: A cross-country analysis. Econ. Anal. Policy 2010, 40, 249–261. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Nursjanti, F.; Amaliawiati, L. The Impact of Government Expenditures in Education and Internet Penetration on GDP Per Capita in Indonesia. Solid State Technol. 2020, 63, 3792–3802. [Google Scholar]
- Piketty, T. Capital and Ideology; Goldhammer, A., Translator; Belknap Press: Cambridge, MA, USA; London, UK, 2020. [Google Scholar]
- Polanyi, K. The Great Transformation. In Readings in Economic Sociology; Blackwell Publishers: Malden, MA, USA, 2002; pp. 38–62. [Google Scholar]
- Razzak, W.A.; Timmins, J. Education and labour productivity in New Zealand. Appl. Econ. Lett. 2010, 17, 169–173. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Rubenson, K.; Desjardins, R. The impact of welfare state regimes on barriers to participation in adult education: A bounded agency model. Adult Educ. Q. 2009, 59, 187–207. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Sarwar, S.; Streimikiene, D.; Waheed, R.; Mighri, Z. Revisiting the empirical relationship among the main targets of sustainable development: Growth, education, health and carbon emissions. Sustain. Dev. 2021, 29, 419–440. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Vladimirova, K.; Le Blanc, D. Exploring links between education and sustainable development goals through the lens of UN flagship reports. Sustain. Dev. 2016, 24, 254–271. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Psacharopoulos, G.; Patrinos, H. Returns to investment in education: A decennial review of the global literature. Educ. Econ. 2018, 26, 445–458. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Zhang, B.; Wang, S.; Wang, D.; Wang, Q.; Yang, X.; Tong, R. Air quality changes in China 2013–2020: Effectiveness of clean coal technology policies. J. Clean. Prod. 2022, 366, 132961. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- McMahon, W.W. The External Benefits of Education. In International Encyclopedia of Education, 3rd ed.; Peterson, P., Baker, E., McGaw, B., Eds.; Elsevier: Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2010; pp. 260–271. [Google Scholar]
- Alam, M.M.; Murad, M.W.; Noman, A.H.M.; Ozturk, I. Relationships among carbon emissions, economic growth, energy consumption and population growth: Testing environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis for Brazil, China, India and Indonesia. Ecol. Indic. 2016, 70, 466–479. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Dietz, T.; Rosa, E.A.; York, R. Environmentally efficient well-being: Is there a Kuznets curve? Appl. Geogr. 2012, 32, 21–28. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Jorgenson, A.K. Economic development and the carbon intensity of human well-being. Nat. Clim. Change 2014, 4, 186–189. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Jorgenson, A.K.; Givens, J. The changing effect of economic development on the consumption-based carbon intensity of well-being, 1990–2008. PLoS ONE 2015, 10, e0123920. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Givens, J.E.; Kelly, O.M.; Jorgenson, A.K. Inequality, Emissions, and Human Well-Being. In Handbook on Inequality and the Environment; Edward Elgar Publishing: Cheltenham, UK, 2023; pp. 308–324. [Google Scholar]
- Chen, J.H.; Huang, Y.F. The study of the relationship between carbon dioxide (CO2) emission and economic growth. J. Int. Glob. Econ. Stud. 2013, 6, 45–61. [Google Scholar]
- Mardani, A.; Streimikiene, D.; Cavallaro, F.; Loganathan, N.; Khoshnoudi, M. Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and economic growth: A systematic review of two decades of research from 1995 to 2017. Sci. Total Environ. 2019, 649, 31–49. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Wang, S.; Ren, H.; Liang, L.; Li, J.; Wang, Z. The effect of economic development on carbon intensity of human well-being: Evidence from spatial econometric analyses. J. Clean. Prod. 2022, 364, 132632. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- de La Vega, M.L.; Urrutia, A.M. HDPI: A framework for pollution-sensitive human development indicators. Environ. Dev. Sustain. 2001, 3, 199–215. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Nezlek, J.B. Multilevel Modeling for Psychologists. In APA Handbook of Research Methods in Psychology, Data Analysis and Research Publication; Cooper, H., Camic, P.M., Long, D.L., Panter, A.T., Rindskopf, D., Sher, K.J., Eds.; American Psychological Association: Washington, DC, USA, 2012; Volume 3, pp. 219–241. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Brunello, G.; Comi, S. Education and earnings growth: Evidence from 11 European countries. Econ. Educ. Rev. 2004, 23, 75–83. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Yazdi, S.K.; Khanalizadeh, B. Air pollution, economic growth and health care expenditure. Econ. Res. Ekon. Istraživanja 2017, 30, 1181–1190. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Ogundari, K.; Awokuse, T. Human capital contribution to economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa: Does health status matter more than education? Econ. Anal. Policy 2018, 58, 131–140. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Sarwar, S.; Alsaggaf, M.I.; Tingqiu, C. Nexus among economic growth, education, health, and environment: Dynamic analysis of world-level data. Front. Public Health 2019, 7, 307. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Palmer, E. Introduction: The sustainable development goals forum. J. Glob. Ethics 2015, 11, 3–9. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Leal Filho, W.; Azeiteiro, U.; Alves, F.; Pace, P.; Mifsud, M.; Brandli, L.; Disterheft, A. Reinvigorating the sustainable development research agenda: The role of the sustainable development goals (SDG). Int. J. Sustain. Dev. World Ecol. 2018, 25, 131–142. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Unterhalter, E. The many meanings of quality education: Politics of targets and indicators in SDG 4. Glob. Policy 2019, 10, 39–51. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Boeren, E. Understanding Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 on “quality education” from micro, meso and macro perspectives. Int. Rev. Educ. 2019, 65, 277–294. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Schuller, T.; Preston, J.; Hammond, C.; Brassett-Grundy, A.; Bynner, J. The Benefits of Learning: The Impact of Education on Health, Family Life and Social Capital; Routledge: London, UK, 2004. [Google Scholar]
- Ahmed, Z. Assessing the interplay between political globalization, social globalization, democracy, militarization, and sustainable development: Evidence from G-7 economies. Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. 2024, 31, 11261–11275. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Arora-Jonsson, S. The sustainable development goals: A universalist promise for the future. Futures 2023, 146, 103087. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Behera, B.; Behera, P.; Sethi, N. Decoupling the role of renewable energy, green finance and political stability in achieving the sustainable development goal 13: Empirical insight from emerging economies. Sustain. Dev. 2024, 32, 119–137. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Hickmann, T.; Biermann, F.; Spinazzola, M.; Ballard, C.; Bogers, M.; Forestier, O.; Yunita, A. Success factors of global goal-setting for sustainable development: Learning from the Millennium Development Goals. Sustain. Dev. 2023, 31, 1214–1225. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Kates, R.W. What kind of a science is sustainability science? Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2011, 108, 19449–19450. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Noor, R.S.; Hamzani, A.I.; Widyastuti, T.V.; Kristanto, K. Gender Equality in Indigenous Peoples in Indonesia (Challenges and Efforts Towards the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals). J. Law Sustain. Dev. 2024, 12, e2173. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Perdana, A.J.; Abdurrachman, M. The Politics of Sustainable Development: Navigating Policy Challenges in Indonesia’s New Capital City Nusantara. PROIROFONIC 2024, 1, 356–365. [Google Scholar]
- Scoones, I. The politics of sustainability and development. Annu. Rev. Environ. Resour. 2016, 41, 293–319. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Vladimirova, K.; Le Blanc, D. How Well Are the Links Between Education and Other Sustainable Development Goals Covered in UN Flagship Reports?: A Contribution to the Study of the Science-Policy Interface on Education in the UN System; United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs: New York, NY, USA, 2015; Volume 146. [Google Scholar]
- Afzal, M.; Arshed, M.G.; Sarwar, K. Education, health, food inflation and economic growth in Pakistan. Pak. Econ. Soc. Rev. 2018, 51, 109–138. [Google Scholar]
- Ahsan, H.; Haque, M.E. Threshold effects of human capital: Schooling and economic growth. Econ. Lett. 2017, 156, 48–52. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Bhorat, H.; Cassim, A.; Tseng, D. Higher education, employment and economic growth: Exploring the interactions. Dev. S. Afr. 2016, 33, 312–327. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Frey, D. Economic growth, full employment and decent work: The means and ends in SDG 8. Int. J. Hum. Rights 2017, 21, 1164–1184. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Woessmann, L. The economic case for education. Educ. Econ. 2016, 24, 3–32. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Rowe, E. Capitalism without capital: The intangible economy of education reform. Discourse Stud. Cult. Politics Educ. 2019, 40, 271–279. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Deaton, A. Health, inequality, and economic development. J. Econ. Lit. 2003, 41, 113–158. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Deaton, A.; Schreyer, P. GDP, wellbeing, and health: Thoughts on the 2017 round of the International Comparison Program. Rev. Income Wealth 2022, 68, 1–15. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Mackenbach, J.P.; Looman, C.W. Life expectancy and national income in Europe, 1900–2008: An update of Preston’s analysis. Int. J. Epidemiol. 2013, 42, 1100–1110. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Shkolnikov, V.M.; Andreev, E.M.; Tursun-Zade, R.; Leon, D.A. Patterns in the relationship between life expectancy and gross domestic product in Russia in 2005–15: A cross-sectional analysis. Lancet Public Health 2019, 4, e181–e188. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- McMichael, A.J. Population health as a primary criterion of sustainability. EcoHealth 2006, 3, 182–186. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Greer, S.L.; Kuhlmann, E. Health and Education Policy: Labour markets, Qualifications, and the Struggle Over Standards. In Education and Public Policy in the European Union: Crossing Boundaries; Palgrave Macmillan: Cham, Switzerland, 2019; pp. 67–88. [Google Scholar]
- Daly, H. A further critique of growth economics. Ecol. Econ. 2013, 88, 20–24. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Givens, J.E. Ecologically unequal exchange and the carbon intensity of well-being, 1990–2011. Environ. Sociol. 2018, 4, 311–324. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Kelly, O. The silver bullet? Assessing the role of education for sustainability. Soc. Forces 2020, 99, 178–204. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Sweidan, O.D. Economic performance and carbon intensity of human well-being: Empirical evidence from the MENA region. J. Environ. Plan. Manag. 2018, 61, 699–723. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- De Leeuw, J.; Meijer, E.; Goldstein, H. Handbook of Multilevel Analysis; Springer: New York, NY, USA, 2008. [Google Scholar]
- Hox, J.; Moerbeek, M.; Van de Schoot, R. Multilevel Analysis: Techniques and Applications; Routledge: New York, NY, USA, 2017. [Google Scholar]
- West, B.T.; Welch, K.B.; Galecki, A.T. Linear Mixed Models: A Practical Guide Using Statistical Software; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, USA, 2022. [Google Scholar]
- Heck, R.H.; Thomas, S.L.; Tabata, L.N. Multilevel and Longitudinal Modeling with IBM SPSS; Routledge: London, UK, 2013. [Google Scholar]
- Nezlek, J.B. An introduction to multilevel modeling for social and personality psychology. Soc. Personal. Psychol. Compass 2008, 2, 842–860. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Raudenbush, S.W.; Bryk, A. Hierarchical Linear Models: Applications and Data Analysis Methods; Sage: Thousand Oaks, CA, USA, 2002; Volume 1. [Google Scholar]
Variables | Variable Values | Measurement Scale | Type of Variable | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Interval-Rational | GDP growth (annual %) | Economic growth | Dependent variable | Quantitative |
Interval-Rational | School enrollment, secondary (% gross) | Education | Independent variables | Quantitative |
Interval-Rational | Incidence of tuberculosis (per 100,000 people) | Health | Quantitative | |
Well-being | * | Interval-Rational | Quantitative |
Null Model | Within Country Level | Moderation Effects | |
---|---|---|---|
Fixed effect | |||
Model 1: | |||
Intercept | 3.4 ** | 5.22 ** | 4.91 ** |
(0.14) | (0.197) | (0.23) | |
Time | −0.181 ** | −0.127 ** | |
(0.015) | (0.16) | ||
Model 2: | |||
Well-being | 9.12 ** | ||
(3.05) | |||
Health | −0.001 | ||
(0.00) | |||
Education | −0.007 | ||
(0.007) | |||
Well-being × Time | −0.43 | ||
(0.246) | |||
Health × Time | 0.03 ** | ||
(0.00009) | |||
Education × Time | −0.0008 | ||
(0.0005) | |||
Variance components | |||
With country | 27.7 | 25.9 | 19.3 |
Between country | 2.7 | 2.7 | 3.48 |
Time trajectory | 0.001 | 0.001 | |
Proportion explained | |||
within | 0.06 | ||
Time trajectory | 0.45 |
Disclaimer/Publisher’s Note: The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content. |
© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Share and Cite
Dadon Golan, Z.; Purcell, W.M. Exploring Sustainable Development and the SDGs 3, 4, and 8 Using the Carbon Intensity of Human Well-Being and Longitudinal Multilevel Modeling. Environments 2025, 12, 71. https://doi.org/10.3390/environments12030071
Dadon Golan Z, Purcell WM. Exploring Sustainable Development and the SDGs 3, 4, and 8 Using the Carbon Intensity of Human Well-Being and Longitudinal Multilevel Modeling. Environments. 2025; 12(3):71. https://doi.org/10.3390/environments12030071
Chicago/Turabian StyleDadon Golan, Zehorit, and Wendy M. Purcell. 2025. "Exploring Sustainable Development and the SDGs 3, 4, and 8 Using the Carbon Intensity of Human Well-Being and Longitudinal Multilevel Modeling" Environments 12, no. 3: 71. https://doi.org/10.3390/environments12030071
APA StyleDadon Golan, Z., & Purcell, W. M. (2025). Exploring Sustainable Development and the SDGs 3, 4, and 8 Using the Carbon Intensity of Human Well-Being and Longitudinal Multilevel Modeling. Environments, 12(3), 71. https://doi.org/10.3390/environments12030071