DOES THE INTERNET MAKE PEOPLE STAY HOME? EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF THE INTERNET ON VEHICLE TRANSPORTATION AND MOTOR FUEL CONSUMPTION

摘要

The striving of nations to build an Internet-based information society is based on the belief that positive economic impacts will be achieved via the Internet. What about the environmental impacts of the Internet? This paper investigates the determinants of vehicle transportation and motor fuel consumption, with the specific aim of quantifying the effects of the Internet on vehicle transportation and motor fuel consumption. A panel data from 50 U.S. states in the period of 2001-2012 (with gaps) was analyzed using fixed effects least square dummy variable (LSDV) model and random effects feasible generalized least squares (GLS) model. Results show that Internet usage is negatively related to vehicle transportation and motor fuel consumption, and therefore the development of the Internet indeed decreases fuel mileages.