IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/rdevec/v29y2025i4p2449-2463.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do New Energy Vehicles Really Reduce Carbon Emissions? A Quasi‐Natural Experiment From China

Author

Listed:
  • Jianlong Wang
  • Haitao Wu
  • Yong Liu
  • Weilong Wang

Abstract

Utilizing new energy vehicles (NEVs) is a crucial trend in addressing global climate concerns. Extensive research has indicated that new energy vehicles have reduced carbon emissions in the transportation sector, but neglected their burden on carbon emissions in the power sector, especially in developing countries where coal‐fired power is the primary source of electricity. Accordingly, this study explores the impact of NEV utilization on the electricity industry carbon emissions (EICE). We use the China New Energy Vehicle Promotion Application Cities Construction (NEVPA) as a quasi‐natural experiment and utilize the Difference‐in‐Differences method to investigate the impact of NEVPA on urban EICE. This study presents three innovative conclusions: (1) NEVPA promotes EICE, and this result withstands a battery of robustness estimations, including machine learning and placebo tests. (2) NEVPA's influence on EICE is more pronounced in cities with “right‐of‐way prioritization” and enhanced charging infrastructure. (3) The scale effect and natural resource dependence constitute pivotal mechanisms driving the increase in EICE due to NEVPA. This study offers strategic measures for cities to synergize the development of the NEV industry and carbon emission management, spanning renewable energy advancement and improved charging infrastructure construction.

Suggested Citation

  • Jianlong Wang & Haitao Wu & Yong Liu & Weilong Wang, 2025. "Do New Energy Vehicles Really Reduce Carbon Emissions? A Quasi‐Natural Experiment From China," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(4), pages 2449-2463, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:rdevec:v:29:y:2025:i:4:p:2449-2463
    DOI: 10.1111/rode.13234
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/rode.13234
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/rode.13234?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
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:bla:rdevec:v:29:y:2025:i:4:p:2449-2463. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=1363-6669 .

    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.