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Why invest in wind energy? Career incentives and Chinese renewable energy politics

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  • Cao, Xun
  • Kleit, Andrew
  • Liu, Chuyu

Abstract

We study wind development at the provincial level in China, modelling installed wind capacities as a function of both economics and politics. We assume that the top provincial officials desire to maximize their chances of promotion under the Chinese cadre evaluation system. We expect that those with the strongest incentives to perform in order to achieve promotion would work harder to comply with the central government’s policy agenda to promote renewable energy. Collecting and testing data on provincial leaders’ characteristics, we find that provinces governed by party secretaries who were approaching the age of 65 are associated with significantly higher level of wind installed capacities. This result supports the political tournaments theory of Chinese politics. We also find that better educated party secretaries are likely to be more supportive of renewable energy, implying that education acts to encourage provincial leaders to support the central government’s policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Cao, Xun & Kleit, Andrew & Liu, Chuyu, 2016. "Why invest in wind energy? Career incentives and Chinese renewable energy politics," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 120-131.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:99:y:2016:i:c:p:120-131
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2016.09.015
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    3. Xingwei Wang & Liang Guo, 2021. "How to Promote University Students to Innovative Use Renewable Energy? An Inquiry-Based Learning Course Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-19, January.
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    5. Tang, Pengcheng & Yang, Shuwang & Fu, Shuke, 2018. "Do political incentive affects China's land transfer in energy-intensive industries?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 550-559.
    6. Wenke Wang & Xiaoqiong You & Kebei Liu & Yenchun Jim Wu & Daming You, 2020. "Implementation of a Multi-Agent Carbon Emission Reduction Strategy under the Chinese Dual Governance System: An Evolutionary Game Theoretical Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-21, November.
    7. Zhang, Pan, 2019. "Do energy intensity targets matter for wind energy development? Identifying their heterogeneous effects in Chinese provinces with different wind resources," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 968-975.
    8. Yuyuan Chang & Wen He & Jianling Wang, 2021. "Government Initiated Corporate Social Responsibility Activities: Evidence from a Poverty Alleviation Campaign in China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(4), pages 661-685, November.
    9. Shen, Xingchi & Lyu, Shoujun, 2019. "Wind power development, government regulation structure, and vested interest groups: Analysis based on panel data of Province of China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 487-494.

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