Table 2 Estimation results for economic factors using the CFA method

a. Estimation results of population aging effects
		(1) PAG	(2) PAG	(3) PAG	(4) PAG	(5) CO₂	(6) CO₂	(7) CO₂
Income Factors	REV	−0.077*** (−8.353) [0.000]
Income Factors	PINC		−0.128** (−2.387) [0.017]
Expenditure Factors	TER			0.088*** (3.962) [0.000]
Expenditure Factors	INV				−0.007 (−0.666) [0.506]
Revenue-driven population aging						−0.057 (−0.410) [0.682]
Per capita disposable income-driven population aging							2.003*** (15.264) [0.000]
Tertiary-driven population aging								2.198*** (18.569) [0.000]
Residuals from column (1)						0.023 (0.147) [0.883]
Residuals from column (2)							−2.282*** (−16.257) [0.000]
Residuals from column (3)								−2.503*** (−19.918) [0.000]
Controls		YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
Observations		2200	2200	2200	2200	2200	2200	2200
No. of cities		200	200	200	200	200	200	200
b. Estimation results of urbanization effects
		(1) URB	(2) URB	(3) URB	(4) URB	(5) CO₂	(6) CO₂
Income Factors	REV	0.002 (0.250) [0.803]
Income Factors	PINC		0.033 (0.842) [0.400]
Expenditure Factors	TER			−0.136*** (−6.138) [0.000]
Expenditure Factors	INV				−0.054*** (−6.596) [0.000]
Tertiary-driven urbanization						−0.872** (−1.978) [0.048]
Investment-driven urbanization							−3.091*** (−30.617) [0.000]
Residuals from column (3)						0.828* (1.814) [0.070]
Residuals from column (4)							3.168*** (30.781) [0.000]
Controls		YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES
Observations		2200	2200	2200	2200	2200	2200
No. of cities		200	200	200	200	200	200

The values in parentheses in columns (1)–(4) represent t-values. In Columns 5–7 of Table 2a and columns (5)–(6) of Table 2b, the values in parentheses represent z-values. The values in square brackets represent p-values. Significance levels (2-tailed) are denoted as follows: *p < 0.1, **p < 0.05, *** p < 0.01.
The two tables separately present the relationship between economic factors (REV, PINC, TER, INV) and population aging, as well as between the same economic factors and urbanization. We than further illustrate how aging and urbanization, when significantly influenced by economic factors, relate to CO₂ emissions. This study controls for the remaining variables in the STIRPAT model, and since these control variables are not the focus of the analysis, their estimated coefficients are not presented in detail. The regression coefficients of the control variables are available from the authors upon request.

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