Impact of Institutions and Human Capital on CO2 Emissions in EU Transition Economies

Environmental degradation is one of the most significant problems of the globalized world. This paper explores the impact of institutional development and human capital on CO2 emissions in 11 EU transition economies over the period of 2000–2018 through co-integration analysis. The co-integration analysis revealed that human capital negatively affected CO2 emissions in Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovenia, and that institutions had a negative impact on CO2 emissions in the Czech Republic. However, both institutions and human capital positively affected CO2 emissions in Latvia and Lithuania.