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Political promotion events and energy conservation decisions: Evidence from China

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  • Kong, Gaowen
  • Ji, Mianmian
  • Guo, Yuemei

Abstract

Considering political promotion events in China, we investigate how politicians affect the energy conservation and emission reduction (ECER) behaviors of local firms. We find that political promotion significantly increases ECER and that this effect is particularly pronounced for firms with political connections and firms facing high financial constraints. We also explore a possible mechanism underlying this relationship: firms engaging in ECER for political reasons may be rewarded with additional government subsidies. Overall, this study sheds light on the determinants of firms' ECER from the perspective of the career concerns of local politicians and the economic consequences of ECER.

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  • Kong, Gaowen & Ji, Mianmian & Guo, Yuemei, 2021. "Political promotion events and energy conservation decisions: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:95:y:2021:i:c:s0140988321000402
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2021.105135
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    Cited by:

    1. Guanglei Yang & Dongqin Cao & Guoxing Zhang, 2023. "How does industry-university-research collaborative innovation affect energy intensity in China: a novel explanation based on political turnover," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-12, December.
    2. Cao, Dongqin & Peng, Can & Yang, Guanglei & Zhang, Wei, 2022. "How does the pressure of political promotion affect renewable energy technological innovation? Evidence from 30 Chinese provinces," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PA).
    3. Rongwu Zhang & Wenqiang Fu & Yingxu Kuang, 2022. "Can Digital Economy Promote Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction in Heavily Polluting Enterprises? Empirical Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-21, August.
    4. Cao, Dongqin & Peng, Can & Yang, Guanglei, 2022. "The pressure of political promotion and renewable energy technological innovation: A spatial econometric analysis from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Political promotion events; Local politicians; Energy conservation and emission reduction; Government subsidy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • Q48 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Government Policy

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