IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eneeco/v49y2015icp390-401.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does urbanization affect energy intensities across provinces in China?Long-run elasticities estimation using dynamic panels with heterogeneous slopes

Author

Listed:
  • Ma, Ben

Abstract

Although there has been extensive debate in the literature that addresses the impact of urbanization on total energy use, the relative magnitude of each impact channel has not been empirically examined and urbanization's effects on energy transition dynamics in China remains unknown. Using panel datasets at the provincial level from 1986 to 2011, this paper employs dynamic models to investigate both the long-run and short-run elasticities of urbanization on energy intensities and the most significant impact channel is identified. Coal intensity and electricity intensity are also modeled to reveal energy transition dynamics driven by urbanization. A set of newly developed regression techniques, namely well-performed common correlated effects mean group (CCEMG) and augmented mean group (AMG) estimators, are used to treat residual cross-sectional dependence, nonstationary residuals, and unlikely-to-hold homogeneous slope assumptions. The results obtained verify that the net effects of urbanization on overall energy intensity and electricity intensity are statistically positive, with long-run elasticities of 0.14% to 0.37% and 0.23% to 0.29%, respectively, whereas China's urbanization does not significantly increase coal intensity. The fact that short-run elasticities account for a majority of corresponding long-run values indicates that the short-run effect, that is, indirect energy use induced by urban infrastructures is the most significant impact channel of urbanization on energy use in China. An energy transition from high-pollution coal to clean electricity is also present in China, although the fundamental transition to renewable energy is still in its infancy. From a regional perspective, urbanization exerts asymmetric impacts on provincial energy use so that energy policies associated with urbanization should be province-specific. The findings also illustrate that for a panel dataset on regional dimension within large and fast-growing economies such as China, error cross-sectional dependence and residual nonstationarity must be tested and properly treated to avoid size distortion and biased estimators.

Suggested Citation

  • Ma, Ben, 2015. "Does urbanization affect energy intensities across provinces in China?Long-run elasticities estimation using dynamic panels with heterogeneous slopes," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 390-401.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:49:y:2015:i:c:p:390-401
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2015.03.012
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140988315001048
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eneco.2015.03.012?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. 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.
    2. C. Cindy Fan, 1997. "Uneven development and beyond: regional development theory in post‐Mao China," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(4), pages 620-639, December.
    3. Kapetanios, G. & Pesaran, M. Hashem & Yamagata, T., 2011. "Panels with non-stationary multifactor error structures," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 160(2), pages 326-348, February.
    4. Poumanyvong, Phetkeo & Kaneko, Shinji & Dhakal, Shobhakar, 2012. "Impacts of urbanization on national transport and road energy use: Evidence from low, middle and high income countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 268-277.
    5. M. Hashem Pesaran, 2007. "A simple panel unit root test in the presence of cross-section dependence," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(2), pages 265-312.
    6. Pesaran, M. Hashem & Smith, Ron, 1995. "Estimating long-run relationships from dynamic heterogeneous panels," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 79-113, July.
    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. Grubler, Arnulf, 2012. "Energy transitions research: Insights and cautionary tales," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 8-16.
    9. Wei, Yi-Ming & Liu, Lan-Cui & Fan, Ying & Wu, Gang, 2007. "The impact of lifestyle on energy use and CO2 emission: An empirical analysis of China's residents," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 247-257, January.
    10. Pesaran, M. Hashem & Vanessa Smith, L. & Yamagata, Takashi, 2013. "Panel unit root tests in the presence of a multifactor error structure," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 175(2), pages 94-115.
    11. M. Hashem Pesaran, 2021. "General diagnostic tests for cross-sectional dependence in panels," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 60(1), pages 13-50, January.
    12. 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.
    13. Pesaran, M. Hashem, 2012. "On the interpretation of panel unit root tests," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 116(3), pages 545-546.
    14. O'Neill, Brian C. & Ren, Xiaolin & Jiang, Leiwen & Dalton, Michael, 2012. "The effect of urbanization on energy use in India and China in the iPETS model," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(S3), pages 339-345.
    15. John C. Driscoll & Aart C. Kraay, 1998. "Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimation With Spatially Dependent Panel Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 80(4), pages 549-560, November.
    16. 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.
    17. 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.
    18. Zhang, Chuanguo & Lin, Yan, 2012. "Panel estimation for urbanization, energy consumption and CO2 emissions: A regional analysis in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 488-498.
    19. Jones, Donald W., 1991. "How urbanization affects energy-use in developing countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 19(7), pages 621-630, September.
    20. Donald W. Jones, 1989. "Urbanization and Energy Use In Economic Development," The Energy Journal, , vol. 10(4), pages 29-45, October.
    21. Markus Eberhardt, 2012. "Estimating panel time-series models with heterogeneous slopes," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 12(1), pages 61-71, March.
    22. Liu, Yaobin, 2009. "Exploring the relationship between urbanization and energy consumption in China using ARDL (autoregressive distributed lag) and FDM (factor decomposition model)," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(11), pages 1846-1854.
    23. Zhang, ZhongXiang, 2003. "Why did the energy intensity fall in China's industrial sector in the 1990s? The relative importance of structural change and intensity change," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(6), pages 625-638, November.
    24. Wang, Feng & Yin, Haitao & Li, Shoude, 2010. "China's renewable energy policy: Commitments and challenges," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 1872-1878, April.
    25. Ma, Ben & Song, Guojun & Smardon, Richard C. & Chen, Jing, 2014. "Diffusion of solar water heaters in regional China: Economic feasibility and policy effectiveness evaluation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 23-34.
    26. Francis Teal & Markus Eberhardt, 2010. "Productivity Analysis in Global Manufacturing Production," Economics Series Working Papers 515, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    27. Herrerias, M.J. & Liu, G., 2013. "Electricity intensity across Chinese provinces: New evidence on convergence and threshold effects," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 268-276.
    28. Phetkeo Poumanyvong & Shinji Kaneko & Shobhakar Dhakal, 2012. "Impacts of urbanization on national residential energy use and CO2 emissions: Evidence from low-, middle- and high-income countries," IDEC DP2 Series 2-5, Hiroshima University, Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation (IDEC).
    29. Daniel Hoechle, 2007. "Robust standard errors for panel regressions with cross-sectional dependence," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 7(3), pages 281-312, September.
    30. Sadorsky, Perry, 2013. "Do urbanization and industrialization affect energy intensity in developing countries?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 52-59.
    31. M. Hashem Pesaran, 2006. "Estimation and Inference in Large Heterogeneous Panels with a Multifactor Error Structure," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 74(4), pages 967-1012, July.
    32. Roberta Capello & Roberto Camagni, 2000. "Beyond Optimal City Size: An Evaluation of Alternative Urban Growth Patterns," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 37(9), pages 1479-1496, August.
    33. Siqi Zheng & Matthew E. Kahn, 2013. "Understanding China's Urban Pollution Dynamics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 51(3), pages 731-772, September.
    34. Robert J R Elliott & Puyang Sun & Tong Zhu, 2014. "Urbanization and Energy Intensity: A Province-level Study for China," Discussion Papers 14-05, Department of Economics, University of Birmingham.
    35. Eberhardt, Markus & Teal, Francis, 2008. "Modeling technology and technological change in manufacturing: how do countries differ?," MPRA Paper 10690, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    36. Pachauri, Shonali & Jiang, Leiwen, 2008. "The household energy transition in India and China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 4022-4035, November.
    37. Rutter, Paul & Keirstead, James, 2012. "A brief history and the possible future of urban energy systems," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 72-80.
    38. Wang, Qiang, 2014. "Effects of urbanisation on energy consumption in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 332-339.
    39. Eberhardt, Markus & Bond, Stephen, 2009. "Cross-section dependence in nonstationary panel models: a novel estimator," MPRA Paper 17692, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    40. Leach, Gerald, 1992. "The energy transition," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 116-123, February.
    41. Rossana Galli, 1998. "The Relationship Between Energy Intensity and Income Levels: Forecasting Long Term Energy Demand in Asian Emerging Countries," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4), pages 85-105.
    42. 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.
    43. Yuxiang, Karl & Chen, Zhongchang, 2010. "Government expenditure and energy intensity in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 691-694, February.
    44. Liu, Yaobin & Xie, Yichun, 2013. "Asymmetric adjustment of the dynamic relationship between energy intensity and urbanization in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 43-54.
    45. Dhakal, Shobhakar, 2009. "Urban energy use and carbon emissions from cities in China and policy implications," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(11), pages 4208-4219, November.
    46. Poumanyvong, Phetkeo & Kaneko, Shinji, 2010. "Does urbanization lead to less energy use and lower CO2 emissions? A cross-country analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(2), pages 434-444, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Elliott, Robert J.R. & Sun, Puyang & Zhu, Tong, 2017. "The direct and indirect effect of urbanization on energy intensity: A province-level study for China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 677-692.
    2. Robert J R Elliott & Puyang Sun & Tong Zhu, 2014. "Urbanization and Energy Intensity: A Province-level Study for China," Discussion Papers 14-05, Department of Economics, University of Birmingham.
    3. Yan, Huijie, 2015. "Provincial energy intensity in China: The role of urbanization," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 635-650.
    4. Li, Ke & Lin, Boqiang, 2015. "Impacts of urbanization and industrialization on energy consumption/CO2 emissions: Does the level of development matter?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 1107-1122.
    5. Asane-Otoo, Emmanuel, 2015. "Carbon footprint and emission determinants in Africa," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 426-435.
    6. Sadorsky, Perry, 2013. "Do urbanization and industrialization affect energy intensity in developing countries?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 52-59.
    7. Amuakwa-Mensah, Franklin & Klege, Rebecca A. & Adom, Philip K. & Amoah, Anthony & Hagan, Edmond, 2018. "Unveiling the energy saving role of banking performance in Sub-Sahara Africa," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 828-842.
    8. Dong, Kangyin & Sun, Renjin & Hochman, Gal & Li, Hui, 2018. "Energy intensity and energy conservation potential in China: A regional comparison perspective," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 782-795.
    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. Rafiq, Shuddhasattwa & Salim, Ruhul & Apergis, Nicholas, 2016. "Agriculture, trade openness and emissions: an empirical analysis and policy options," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 60(2), April.
    11. Mrabet, Zouhair & Alsamara, Mouyad & Saleh, Ali Salman & Anwar, Sajid, 2019. "Urbanization and non-renewable energy demand: A comparison of developed and emerging countries," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 832-839.
    12. Fang, Jianchun & Gozgor, Giray & Mahalik, Mantu Kumar & Mallick, Hrushikesh & Padhan, Hemachandra, 2022. "Does urbanisation induce renewable energy consumption in emerging economies? The role of education in energy switching policies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    13. Adolfo Maza & Paula Gutiérrez-Portilla, 2022. "Outward FDI and exports relation: A heterogeneous panel approach dealing with cross-sectional dependence," International Economics, CEPII research center, issue 170, pages 174-189.
    14. Yu, Yantuan & Zhang, Ning & Kim, Jong Dae, 2020. "Impact of urbanization on energy demand: An empirical study of the Yangtze River Economic Belt in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    15. Qiao, Hui & Chen, Siyu & Dong, Xiucheng & Dong, Kangyin, 2019. "Has China's coal consumption actually reached its peak? National and regional analysis considering cross-sectional dependence and heterogeneity," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    16. Qiu Chen & Haoran Yang & Wenguo Wang & Tianbiao Liu, 2019. "Beyond the City: Effects of Urbanization on Rural Residential Energy Intensity and CO 2 Emissions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-21, April.
    17. Lv, Yulan & Chen, Wei & Cheng, Jianquan, 2020. "Effects of urbanization on energy efficiency in China: New evidence from short run and long run efficiency models," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    18. 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.
    19. 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).
    20. Mounir Belloumi & Atef Saad Alshehry, 2016. "The Impact of Urbanization on Energy Intensity in Saudi Arabia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-17, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Urbanization; Energy intensity; Energy transition; Long-run elasticity; Heterogeneous estimators;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C33 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • Q32 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Nonrenewable Resources and Conservation - - - Exhaustible Resources and Economic Development
    • Q38 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Nonrenewable Resources and Conservation - - - Government Policy (includes OPEC Policy)
    • Q43 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Energy and the Macroeconomy
    • Q48 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Government Policy
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes

    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:eee:eneeco:v:49:y:2015:i:c:p:390-401. 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/eneco .

    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.