No abstract

The debate regarding mitigation of carbon dioxide emissions and fiscal decentralization has gained extreme attention, but only a little evidence supports this issue. Therefore, this study adopts fiscal decentralization, green technology innovation, and institutional efficiency that reduce environmental degradation and help to create a sustainable environment in seventeen developed countries. This study applies a novel Methods of Moment's Quantiles Regression (MMQR) which helps to deal with asymmetricity, structural change and non-normality. The overall results exhibit emissions mitigating effect of fiscal decentralization, green technology innovation and institutional efficiency. However, the emissions mitigating effects of fiscal decentralization is the lowest for lower quantiles and the highest for higher emissions quantiles. In contrast, emission reduction effect of green technology innovation and institutional efficiency is higher for lowest quantiles and lower for highest quantiles. These results confirm the asymmetric effect of fiscal decentralization, green technology innovation, and institutional efficiency on carbon emissions, and validating that their effect is not alike across all distribution, rather significantly varied at lower, medium, and higher quantiles. These results offer valuable suggestions to improve the environmental sustainability.

Awareness of receiving postnatal care is uncommon in Punjab (Pakistan) and supply-side is also unfortunate. Sufficient uptake of PNC may helpful in reducing maternal mortality. Thus, this study explored the demand and supply-side determinants of maternal health (utilization of PNC) care for 35 districts of Punjab, Pakistan. Percentage of women of reproductive ages using PNC services in the 35 districts of Punjab was the outcome variable. While, ANC utilization, adult literacy rate, household wealth, physical infrastructure had been considered as the explanatory variables. Secondary data were obtained from Punjab Development Statistics reports from the years 2010 to 2016. Pooled ordinary least square (OLS) and Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) were applied as estimation techniques. It was found that the percentage of women of reproductive ages using ANC services (0.662, p < 0.01), the percentage of households receiving remittances from abroad (0.570, p < 0.01), the percentage of households having access to improved sanitation facilities (0.569, p < 0.01), the percentage of households having their own houses (0.530, p < 0.05), and district-based health infrastructure index (0.237, p < 0.05) had strong positive and significant impact on PNC utilization. The study concluded that district-based targets relating to PNC coverage could be achieved by intervening through ANC utilization behavior, household wealth (remittances receipts), and through the provision of infrastructure (healthcare, sanitation) to the residents of the district. Need to ensure the availability and accessibility of PNC in order to reduce the health disparities among the districts of Punjab.