Volatile organic compounds emissions embodied in fixed capital formation in China: Gravity movement and decoupling analysis

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emissions have increased rapidly in China, but little is known about the characteristics of VOCs emissions embodied in China's fixed capital formation (FCF). We investigate the VOCs emissions embodied in various FCF categories in the economic sectors of 30 Chinese provincial-level regions using the multi-regional input-output (MRIO) method. The gravity theory is combined with the Shapley decomposition method to uncover the gravity movement of embodied VOCs emissions in FCF and regional contributions behind. Besides, the Tapio decoupling index is combined with the logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) method to identify the key drivers of decoupling between embodied VOCs emissions and embodied added value driven by FCF. The results indicate that China's embodied VOCs emissions in FCF increased by 10.9% during 2012–2015 and decreased by 4.2% during 2015–2017. Over 2012–2017, the gravity center of embodied VOCs emissions in gross FCF shifted to the southwest region, with the northwestern and northeastern regions acting as the main engines for the gravity shift. There is a weak decoupling between embodied VOCs emissions and embodied added value in gross FCF. Investment scale and embodied investment efficiency largely inhibit the decoupling, while embodied energy intensity largely promotes the decoupling. Accordingly, we suggest that the northeastern region and northwestern region should be the main targets for VOCs emissions reduction. As such, investment scale, embodied investment efficiency, and embodied emission intensity in FCF should be optimized.