IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v88y2016icp74-85.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A comparative study on the influential factors of China's provincial energy intensity

Author

Listed:
  • Yang, Guangfei
  • Li, Wenli
  • Wang, Jianliang
  • Zhang, Dongqing

Abstract

China has become the largest energy consumer worldwide, and it is important to study the energy intensity to realize the sustainable development goal of China. This paper focuses on investigating the influential factors of China's energy intensity using provincial-level panel data from 1985 to 2012. More specifically, we try to identify which factor is relatively more important to pay attention to. A novel approach based on evolutionary computation is proposed to intelligently mine the intrinsic relations between observed phenomena and to let the important factors automatically emerge from the discovered nonlinear models. However, due to China's vast territory and significant heterogeneities, this approach may fail to examine some detailed or hidden information when analyzing the country as a whole. Instead, we concentrate on the provincial level because the provinces play vital roles in reducing energy intensity in China. From our analytical results, the main findings are as follows: (1) the Total Population is the most important influential factor across China's provinces, while the Energy Price Index has the least impact; and (2) the provinces could be naturally classified into four categories based on the primary factors emerged from data, and such classification could reveal more about the true underlying features of each area.

Suggested Citation

  • Yang, Guangfei & Li, Wenli & Wang, Jianliang & Zhang, Dongqing, 2016. "A comparative study on the influential factors of China's provincial energy intensity," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 74-85.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:88:y:2016:i:c:p:74-85
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2015.10.011
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421515301397
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2015.10.011?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ang, B. W., 2004. "Decomposition analysis for policymaking in energy:: which is the preferred method?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(9), pages 1131-1139, June.
    2. Fisher-Vanden, Karen & Jefferson, Gary H. & Liu, Hongmei & Tao, Quan, 2004. "What is driving China's decline in energy intensity?," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 77-97, March.
    3. Ang, B.W., 2015. "LMDI decomposition approach: A guide for implementation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 233-238.
    4. Fan, Shenggen & Zhang, Xiaobo, 2004. "Infrastructure and regional economic development in rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 203-214.
    5. Zeng, Lin & Xu, Ming & Liang, Sai & Zeng, Siyu & Zhang, Tianzhu, 2014. "Revisiting drivers of energy intensity in China during 1997–2007: A structural decomposition analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 640-647.
    6. Sun, J. W., 2002. "The decrease in the difference of energy intensities between OECD countries from 1971 to 1998," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(8), pages 631-635, June.
    7. Herrerias, M.J. & Cuadros, A. & Orts, V., 2013. "Energy intensity and investment ownership across Chinese provinces," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 286-298.
    8. Ang, B.W. & Mu, A.R. & Zhou, P., 2010. "Accounting frameworks for tracking energy efficiency trends," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 1209-1219, September.
    9. Song, Feng & Zheng, Xinye, 2012. "What drives the change in China's energy intensity: Combining decomposition analysis and econometric analysis at the provincial level," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 445-453.
    10. Liao, Hua & Fan, Ying & Wei, Yi-Ming, 2007. "What induced China's energy intensity to fluctuate: 1997-2006?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(9), pages 4640-4649, September.
    11. Crompton, Paul & Wu, Yanrui, 2005. "Energy consumption in China: past trends and future directions," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 195-208, January.
    12. Ang, B. W., 2005. "The LMDI approach to decomposition analysis: a practical guide," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(7), pages 867-871, May.
    13. Ma, Chunbo & Stern, David I., 2008. "China's changing energy intensity trend: A decomposition analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 1037-1053, May.
    14. Ma, Hengyun & Oxley, Les & Gibson, John, 2010. "China's energy economy: A survey of the literature," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 105-132, June.
    15. Tay, Nicholas S.P. & Lusch, Robert F., 2005. "A preliminary test of Hunt's General Theory of Competition: using artificial adaptive agents to study complex and ill-defined environments," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 58(9), pages 1155-1168, September.
    16. Gilbert E. Metcalf, 2008. "An Empirical Analysis of Energy Intensity and Its Determinants at the State Level," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3), pages 1-26.
    17. Bin Su & B. W. Ang, 2012. "Structural Decomposition Analysis Applied To Energy And Emissions: Aggregation Issues," Economic Systems Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(3), pages 299-317, March.
    18. Wu, Yanrui, 2012. "Energy intensity and its determinants in China's regional economies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 703-711.
    19. Zha, Donglan & Zhou, Dequn & Ding, Ning, 2009. "The contribution degree of sub-sectors to structure effect and intensity effects on industry energy intensity in China from 1993 to 2003," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 895-902, May.
    20. Ang, B.W., 2006. "Monitoring changes in economy-wide energy efficiency: From energy-GDP ratio to composite efficiency index," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 574-582, March.
    21. Liu, Na & Ang, B.W., 2007. "Factors shaping aggregate energy intensity trend for industry: Energy intensity versus product mix," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 609-635, July.
    22. Zheng, Yingmei & Qi, Jianhong & Chen, Xiaoliang, 2011. "The effect of increasing exports on industrial energy intensity in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 2688-2698, May.
    23. Richard F. Garbaccio & Mun S. Ho & Dale W. Jorgenson, 1999. "Why Has the Energy-Output Ratio Fallen in China?," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3), pages 63-91.
    24. Su, Bin & Ang, B.W., 2012. "Structural decomposition analysis applied to energy and emissions: Some methodological developments," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 177-188.
    25. Hang, Leiming & Tu, Meizeng, 2007. "The impacts of energy prices on energy intensity: Evidence from China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 2978-2988, May.
    26. Yoon, Kyung Hwan & Ratti, Ronald A., 2011. "Energy price uncertainty, energy intensity and firm investment," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 67-78, January.
    27. Ang, B.W. & Huang, H.C. & Mu, A.R., 2009. "Properties and linkages of some index decomposition analysis methods," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(11), pages 4624-4632, November.
    28. Yu, Huayi, 2012. "The influential factors of China's regional energy intensity and its spatial linkages: 1988–2007," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 583-593.
    29. Ang, B.W. & Liu, Na, 2007. "Negative-value problems of the logarithmic mean Divisia index decomposition approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 739-742, January.
    30. Yuxiang, Karl & Chen, Zhongchang, 2010. "Government expenditure and energy intensity in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 691-694, February.
    31. Dincer, Ibrahim & Dost, Sadik, 1996. "Energy intensities for Canada," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 283-298.
    32. Ang, B.W. & Liu, Na, 2007. "Handling zero values in the logarithmic mean Divisia index decomposition approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 238-246, January.
    33. Sinton, Jonathan E. & Levine, Mark D., 1994. "Changing energy intensity in Chinese industry : The relatively importance of structural shift and intensity change," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 239-255, March.
    34. Zhao, Xiaoli & Ma, Chunbo & Hong, Dongyue, 2010. "Why did China's energy intensity increase during 1998-2006: Decomposition and policy analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 1379-1388, March.
    35. Powell, John H. & Wakeley, Timothy M., 2003. "Evolutionary concepts and business economics: Towards a normative approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 153-161, February.
    36. Ma, Hengyun & Oxley, Les & Gibson, John, 2009. "China's energy situation in the new millennium," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(8), pages 1781-1799, October.
    37. Huang, Jin-ping, 1993. "Industry energy use and structural change : A case study of The People's Republic of China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 131-136, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Chiroleu-Assouline, Mireille & Fodha, Mouez & Kirat, Yassine, 2020. "Carbon curse in developed countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    2. Zhang, Dayong & Li, Jun & Ji, Qiang, 2020. "Does better access to credit help reduce energy intensity in China? Evidence from manufacturing firms," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    3. Chen, Jiandong & Cheng, Shulei & Song, Malin & Wang, Jia, 2016. "Interregional differences of coal carbon dioxide emissions in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 1-13.
    4. Fang, Guochang & Tian, Lixin & Fu, Min & Sun, Mei & Du, Ruijin & Liu, Menghe, 2017. "Investigating carbon tax pilot in YRD urban agglomerations—Analysis of a novel ESER system with carbon tax constraints and its application," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 635-647.
    5. Hongyun Han & Shu Wu, 2018. "Structural Change and Its Impact on the Energy Intensity of Agricultural Sector in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-23, December.
    6. Pan, Xiongfeng & Uddin, Md. Kamal & Saima, Umme & Jiao, Zhiming & Han, Cuicui, 2019. "How do industrialization and trade openness influence energy intensity? Evidence from a path model in case of Bangladesh," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    7. Mouhamadou Lamine DIAL, 2022. "Les effets de l’urbanisation et de l’industrialisation sur l’intensité énergétique dans la CEDEAO," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 56, pages 41-59.
    8. Zhang, Chi & Su, Bin & Zhou, Kaile & Sun, Yuan, 2020. "A multi-dimensional analysis on microeconomic factors of China's industrial energy intensity (2000–2017)," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    9. Hong, Jingke & Shen, Qiping & Xue, Fan, 2016. "A multi-regional structural path analysis of the energy supply chain in China's construction industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 56-68.
    10. Wen, Quan & Hong, Jingke & Liu, Guiwen & Xu, Pengpeng & Tang, Miaohan & Li, Zhongfu, 2020. "Regional efficiency disparities in China’s construction sector: A combination of multiregional input–output and data envelopment analyses," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    11. Zaman Sajid & Asma Javaid & Muhammad Kashif Khan & Hamad Sadiq & Usman Hamid, 2021. "Integration of Regression Analysis and Monte Carlo Simulation for Probabilistic Energy Policy Guidelines in Pakistan," Resources, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-26, August.
    12. Han, Feng & Xie, Rui & Fang, Jiayu, 2018. "Urban agglomeration economies and industrial energy efficiency," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 45-59.
    13. Xiongfeng Pan & Jing Zhang & Changyu Li & Xianyou Pan & Jinbo Song, 2019. "Analysis of China’s regional wind power generation efficiency and its influencing factors," Energy & Environment, , vol. 30(2), pages 254-271, March.
    14. R. Rueda & M. P. Cuéllar & M. Molina-Solana & Y. Guo & M. C. Pegalajar, 2019. "Generalised Regression Hypothesis Induction for Energy Consumption Forecasting," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-22, March.
    15. Xue, Liming & Zhang, Wenjie & Zheng, Zhixue & Liu, Zhe & Meng, Shuo & Li, Huaqing & Du, Yulin, 2021. "Measurement and influential factors of the efficiency of coal resources of China’s provinces: Based on Bootstrap-DEA and Tobit," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 221(C).
    16. Zhang, Pengpeng & Zhang, Lixiao & Tian, Xin & Hao, Yan & Wang, Changbo, 2018. "Urban energy transition in China: Insights from trends, socioeconomic drivers, and environmental impacts of Beijing," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 173-183.
    17. Zhong, Sheng, 2018. "Structural decompositions of energy consumption between 1995 and 2009: Evidence from WIOD," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 655-667.
    18. Hong, Junjie & Shi, Fangyuan & Zheng, Yuhan, 2023. "Does network infrastructure construction reduce energy intensity? Based on the “Broadband China” strategy," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    19. Le Tang, 2020. "Energy prices and investment in energy efficiency: evidence from Chinese industry 1997–2004," Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, The Crawford School, The Australian National University, vol. 34(2), pages 93-105, November.
    20. Fang, Zheng & Chen, Yang, 2017. "Human capital and energy in economic growth – Evidence from Chinese provincial data," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 340-358.
    21. Chen, Zhongfei & Huang, Wanjing & Zheng, Xian, 2019. "The decline in energy intensity: Does financial development matter?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    22. Wu, Shu & Ding, Song, 2021. "Efficiency improvement, structural change, and energy intensity reduction: Evidence from Chinese agricultural sector," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wu, Shu & Ding, Song, 2021. "Efficiency improvement, structural change, and energy intensity reduction: Evidence from Chinese agricultural sector," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    2. Yan, Huijie, 2015. "Provincial energy intensity in China: The role of urbanization," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 635-650.
    3. Jiang, Lei & Folmer, Henk & Ji, Minhe, 2014. "The drivers of energy intensity in China: A spatial panel data approach," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 351-360.
    4. Song, Feng & Zheng, Xinye, 2012. "What drives the change in China's energy intensity: Combining decomposition analysis and econometric analysis at the provincial level," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 445-453.
    5. Ma, Chunbo, 2014. "A multi-fuel, multi-sector and multi-region approach to index decomposition: An application to China's energy consumption 1995–2010," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 9-16.
    6. Wu, Yanrui, 2012. "Energy intensity and its determinants in China's regional economies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 703-711.
    7. Dayong Zhang and David C. Broadstock, 2016. "Club Convergence in the Energy Intensity of China," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3).
    8. Ma, Hengyun & Oxley, Les & Gibson, John, 2010. "China's energy economy: A survey of the literature," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 105-132, June.
    9. Zhang, Dayong & Cao, Hong & Wei, Yi-Ming, 2016. "Identifying the determinants of energy intensity in China: A Bayesian averaging approach," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 672-682.
    10. Wang, Qiang & Li, Rongrong, 2016. "Drivers for energy consumption: A comparative analysis of China and India," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 954-962.
    11. Duran, Elisa & Aravena, Claudia & Aguilar, Renato, 2015. "Analysis and decomposition of energy consumption in the Chilean industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 552-561.
    12. Wang, Miao & Feng, Chao, 2018. "Decomposing the change in energy consumption in China's nonferrous metal industry: An empirical analysis based on the LMDI method," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 2652-2663.
    13. Wang, H. & Ang, B.W. & Su, Bin, 2017. "Assessing drivers of economy-wide energy use and emissions: IDA versus SDA," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 585-599.
    14. Li, Yi & Sun, Linyan & Feng, Taiwen & Zhu, Chunyan, 2013. "How to reduce energy intensity in China: A regional comparison perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 513-522.
    15. Huang, Junbing & Du, Dan & Tao, Qizhi, 2017. "An analysis of technological factors and energy intensity in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 1-9.
    16. Fang, Zheng & Chen, Yang, 2017. "Human capital and energy in economic growth – Evidence from Chinese provincial data," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 340-358.
    17. Huang, Junbing & Chen, Xiang, 2020. "Domestic R&D activities, technology absorption ability, and energy intensity in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    18. Hong, Junjie & Shi, Fangyuan & Zheng, Yuhan, 2023. "Does network infrastructure construction reduce energy intensity? Based on the “Broadband China” strategy," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    19. Voigt, Sebastian & De Cian, Enrica & Schymura, Michael & Verdolini, Elena, 2014. "Energy intensity developments in 40 major economies: Structural change or technology improvement?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 47-62.
    20. Kahrl, Fredrich & Roland-Holst, David & Zilberman, David, 2013. "Past as Prologue? Understanding energy use in post-2002 China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 759-771.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:88:y:2016:i:c:p:74-85. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.