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More green digital finance with less energy poverty? The key role of climate risk

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  • Lee, Chi-Chuan
  • Li, Mingyue
  • Li, Xinghao
  • Song, Hepeng

Abstract

The emerging field of green digital finance (GDF) holds promise for alleviating energy poverty (EP); however, its potential remains underexplored. Constructing a multidimensional index of GDF, this study investigates whether and how GDF development contributes to EP mitigation. Employing provincial-level panel data from China, our findings indicate that GDF development significantly reduces EP, and enhancing energy efficiency and deepening digitalization are potential mechanisms in this process. Moreover, climate risk demonstrates moderating/threshold effects, with an unfavorable role in addressing EP. Specifically, GDF exhibits a propensity to decrease EP at lower levels of climate risk, with the opposite effect observed at higher levels of risk. These findings offer essential guidance for policymakers to alleviate EP and promote sustainable development.

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  • Lee, Chi-Chuan & Li, Mingyue & Li, Xinghao & Song, Hepeng, 2025. "More green digital finance with less energy poverty? The key role of climate risk," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:141:y:2025:i:c:s0140988324008533
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2024.108144
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Green digital finance; Energy poverty; Climate risk; Dynamic panel threshold model; China;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G20 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - General
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • Q43 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Energy and the Macroeconomy
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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