Food production and food-related CO₂ emissions in China: an examination of the role of economic governance; insights from innovative fourier approach

This study aims to address the gap in the existing literature by investigating the impact of food production and the role of economic governance, such as government effectiveness and regularity quality along with population and economic growth as a control indicator, on food-related CO₂ emissions in China. Our analysis employs principal component analysis to assess the food-related CO₂ emissions index, comprising food processing, packaging, and household consumption. The study employed an innovative Fourier-based econometric method, using quarterly data from 2000Q1 to 2021Q4. The benchmark estimation from Fourier quantile causality findings reveals that food production, economic growth and population increase food-related CO₂ emissions and environmental degradation. In contrast, economic governance is the primary contributor to improving environmental quality by decreasing food-related CO₂ emissions in China. Furthermore, the findings also revealed that the effect of food production, economic growth, and population increase on food-related CO₂ emissions was overturned when interacting with sound governance. Our findings suggest governance-augmented food production, population, and economic growth to promote environmental and food sustainability in China.