IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v180y2023ics0301421523002379.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Energy poverty and government subsidies in China

Author

Listed:
  • Gu, Jiafeng

Abstract

Identifying the policy effect of government subsidies on families is beneficial to alleviate household energy poverty. This study first builds a Propensity Score Matching–Difference-in-Differences (PSM-DID) model and empirically tests the impact of government subsidies on household energy poverty in China based on China Family Panel Studies data from 2016 to 2018. The results show that household energy poverty is considered to have obvious regional differences. Moreover, the results indicate that government subsidies can reduce the probability of household energy poverty by 38.1%. However, the effect of government subsidies in alleviating household energy poverty will vary depending on the specific household situation. It is concluded that subsidies provided by the Chinese government to households can effectively alleviate household energy poverty. Finally, some policy recommendations are proposed based on the results of the empirical analysis.

Suggested Citation

  • Gu, Jiafeng, 2023. "Energy poverty and government subsidies in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:180:y:2023:i:c:s0301421523002379
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2023.113652
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421523002379
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2023.113652?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. Igawa, Moegi & Managi, Shunsuke, 2022. "Energy poverty and income inequality: An economic analysis of 37 countries," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 306(PB).
    2. González-Eguino, Mikel, 2015. "Energy poverty: An overview," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 377-385.
    3. Paudel, Jayash, 2022. "Deadly tornadoes and racial disparities in energy consumption: Implications for energy poverty," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    4. James J. Heckman & Hidehiko Ichimura & Petra E. Todd, 1997. "Matching As An Econometric Evaluation Estimator: Evidence from Evaluating a Job Training Programme," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 64(4), pages 605-654.
    5. Xin Tang & Hua Liao, 2014. "Energy poverty and solid fuels use in rural China: Analysis based on national population census," CEEP-BIT Working Papers 57, Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research (CEEP), Beijing Institute of Technology.
    6. Liu, Jing & Huang, Fubin & Wang, Zihan & Shuai, Chuanmin, 2021. "What is the anti-poverty effect of solar PV poverty alleviation projects? Evidence from rural China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    7. Zarepour, Zahra & Wagner, Natascha, 2022. "Cash instead of subsidy: Assessing the impact of the iranian energy subsidy reform on households," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    8. Robert W. Hahn & Robert D. Metcalfe, 2021. "Efficiency and Equity Impacts of Energy Subsidies," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(5), pages 1658-1688, May.
    9. Yuru Guan & Jin Yan & Yuli Shan & Yannan Zhou & Ye Hang & Ruoqi Li & Yu Liu & Binyuan Liu & Qingyun Nie & Benedikt Bruckner & Kuishuang Feng & Klaus Hubacek, 2023. "Burden of the global energy price crisis on households," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 8(3), pages 304-316, March.
    10. Setu Pelz & Shonali Pachauri & Sebastian Groh, 2018. "A critical review of modern approaches for multidimensional energy poverty measurement," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 7(6), November.
    11. Mendoza, Celedonio B. & Cayonte, Dwane Darcy D. & Leabres, Michael S. & Manaligod, Lana Rose A., 2019. "Understanding multidimensional energy poverty in the Philippines," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    12. Anver C. Sadath & Rajesh H. Acharya, 2021. "Access to Modern Energy Services and Human Development in India: Has Government Policies Paid off?," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 11(3), pages 432-442.
    13. Roberto Barrella & José Carlos Romero & Lucía Mariño, 2022. "Proposing a Novel Minimum Income Standard Approach to Energy Poverty Assessment: A European Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-21, November.
    14. Xia, Wanjun & Murshed, Muntasir & Khan, Zeeshan & Chen, Zhenling & Ferraz, Diogo, 2022. "Exploring the nexus between fiscal decentralization and energy poverty for China: Does country risk matter for energy poverty reduction?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    15. Lin, Boqiang & Jiang, Zhujun, 2011. "Estimates of energy subsidies in China and impact of energy subsidy reform," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 273-283, March.
    16. Shuchen Cong & Destenie Nock & Yueming Lucy Qiu & Bo Xing, 2022. "Unveiling hidden energy poverty using the energy equity gap," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.
    17. Luan, Bingjiang & Zou, Hong & Huang, Junbing, 2023. "Digital divide and household energy poverty in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    18. Cheng, Zhiming & Tani, Massimiliano & Wang, Haining, 2021. "Energy poverty and entrepreneurship," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    19. Khanna, Rupali A. & Li, Yanfei & Mhaisalkar, Subodh & Kumar, Mahesh & Liang, Lim Jia, 2019. "Comprehensive energy poverty index: Measuring energy poverty and identifying micro-level solutions in South and Southeast Asia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 379-391.
    20. Li, Yunwei & Chen, Kui & Ding, Ruixin & Zhang, Jing & Hao, Yu, 2023. "How do photovoltaic poverty alleviation projects relieve household energy poverty? Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    21. Belaïd, Fateh & Flambard, Véronique, 2023. "Impacts of income poverty and high housing costs on fuel poverty in Egypt: An empirical modeling approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    22. Nie, Peng & Li, Qiaoge & Sousa-Poza, Alfonso, 2021. "Energy poverty and subjective well-being in China: New evidence from the China Family Panel Studies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    23. Khandker, Shahidur R. & Barnes, Douglas F. & Samad, Hussain A., 2012. "Are the energy poor also income poor? Evidence from India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 1-12.
    24. Romero, José Carlos & Linares, Pedro & López, Xiral, 2018. "The policy implications of energy poverty indicators," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 98-108.
    25. Zhou, Yang & Liu, Yansui & Wu, Wenxiang & Li, Yurui, 2015. "Effects of rural–urban development transformation on energy consumption and CO2 emissions: A regional analysis in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 863-875.
    26. Jayasinghe, Maneka & Selvanathan, E.A. & Selvanathan, Saroja, 2021. "Energy poverty in Sri Lanka," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    27. Caterina Ruggeri Laderchi & Anne Olivier & Chris Trimble, 2013. "Balancing Act : Cutting Energy Subsidies While Protecting Affordability," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 12296, December.
    28. Stojilovska, Ana & Guyet, Rachel & Mahoney, Katherine & Gouveia, João Pedro & Castaño-Rosa, Raúl & Živčič, Lidija & Barbosa, Ricardo & Tkalec, Tomislav, 2022. "Energy poverty and emerging debates: Beyond the traditional triangle of energy poverty drivers," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    29. Li, Kang & Lloyd, Bob & Liang, Xiao-Jie & Wei, Yi-Ming, 2014. "Energy poor or fuel poor: What are the differences?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 476-481.
    30. Saiful Badli & Raja Masbar & Nazamuddin Nazamuddin & Muhammad Nasir & T. Zulham & Jumadil Saputra & Syahril Syahril & Helmi Noviar, 2020. "Investigating the Efficiency of Government Expenditure on Energy Consumption (Fuel) Subsidy Policy in Indonesia: An Application of Stochastic Frontier Model," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 10(4), pages 161-165.
    31. Dong, Kangyin & Ren, Xiaohang & Zhao, Jun, 2021. "How does low-carbon energy transition alleviate energy poverty in China? A nonparametric panel causality analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    32. Paul Simshauser, 2022. "Fuel Poverty and the 2022 Energy Crisis," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 55(4), pages 503-514, December.
    33. Ma, Rufei & Deng, Liqian & Ji, Qiang & Zhai, Pengxiang, 2022. "Environmental regulations, clean energy access, and household energy poverty: Evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    34. Zahra Zarepour, 2022. "Short- and long-run macroeconomic impacts of the 2010 Iranian energy subsidy reform," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 2(10), pages 1-32, October.
    35. Ssennono, Vincent Fred & Ntayi, Joseph M. & Buyinza, Faisal & Wasswa, Francis & Aarakit, Sylvia Manjeri & Mukiza, Chris Ndatira, 2021. "Energy poverty in Uganda: Evidence from a multidimensional approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    36. Zhong Wang & Mingyu Wu & Shixiang Li & Changji Wang, 2021. "The Effect Evaluation of China’s Energy-Consuming Right Trading Policy: Empirical Analysis Based on PSM-DID," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-16, October.
    37. Husaini, Dzul Hadzwan & Lean, Hooi Hooi & Puah, Chin-Hong & Affizzah, A.M. Dyg, 2023. "Energy subsidy reform and energy sustainability in Malaysia," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 913-927.
    38. Clò, Stefano & Fumagalli, Elena, 2019. "The effect of price regulation on energy imbalances: A Difference in Differences design," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 754-764.
    39. Andrea Boeri & Valentina Gianfrate & Saveria Olga Murielle Boulanger & Martina Massari, 2020. "Future Design Approaches for Energy Poverty: Users Profiling and Services for No-Vulnerable Condition," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-18, April.
    40. Siddig, Khalid & Aguiar, Angel & Grethe, Harald & Minor, Peter & Walmsley, Terrie, 2014. "Impacts of removing fuel import subsidies in Nigeria on poverty," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 165-178.
    41. Zhang, Dayong & Li, Jiajia & Han, Phoumin, 2019. "A multidimensional measure of energy poverty in China and its impacts on health: An empirical study based on the China family panel studies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 72-81.
    42. Diop, Ndiame, 2014. "Why Is Reducing Energy Subsidies a Prudent, Fair, and Transformative Policy for Indonesia?," World Bank - Economic Premise, The World Bank, issue 140, pages 1-6, April.
    43. Barnes, Douglas F. & Khandker, Shahidur R. & Samad, Hussain A., 2011. "Energy poverty in rural Bangladesh," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 894-904, February.
    44. Pitt, Mark M., 1985. "Equity, externalities and energy subsidies The case of kerosine in Indonesia," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 201-217, April.
    45. Lin, Boqiang & Wang, Yao, 2020. "Does energy poverty really exist in China? From the perspective of residential electricity consumption," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    46. Clavijo-Núñez, Susana & Herrera-Limones, Rafael & Rey-Pérez, Julia & Torres-García, Miguel, 2022. "Energy poverty in Andalusia. An analysis through decentralised indicators," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    47. Sadath, Anver C. & Acharya, Rajesh H., 2017. "Assessing the extent and intensity of energy poverty using Multidimensional Energy Poverty Index: Empirical evidence from households in India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 540-550.
    48. Daneshzand, Farzaneh & Asali, Mehdi & Al-Sobhi, Saad A. & Diabat, Ali & Elkamel, Ali, 2022. "A simulation-based optimization scheme for phase-out of natural gas subsidies considering welfare and economic measures," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 259(C).
    49. Awaworyi Churchill, Sefa & Smyth, Russell, 2021. "Energy poverty and health: Panel data evidence from Australia," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    50. Jiang, Lu & Yu, Lu & Xue, Bing & Chen, Xingpeng & Mi, Zhifu, 2020. "Who is energy poor? Evidence from the least developed regions in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    51. Helena Cardenas & Dale Whittington, 2021. "Magnitude and Distribution of Electricity and Water Subsidies for Households with Private Connections in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia," Water Economics and Policy (WEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 7(01), pages 1-44, January.
    52. Han, Hongyun & Wu, Shu & Zhang, Zhijian, 2018. "Factors underlying rural household energy transition: A case study of China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 234-244.
    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. Fu Wang & Hong Geng & Donglan Zha & Chaoqun Zhang, 2023. "Multidimensional Energy Poverty in China: Measurement and Spatio-Temporal Disparities Characteristics," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 168(1), pages 45-78, August.
    2. Muhammad Shafiullah & Zhilun Jiao & Muhammad Shahbaz & Kangyin Dong, 2023. "Examining energy poverty in Chinese households: An Engel curve approach," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(1), pages 149-184, March.
    3. Tiwari, Sunil & Si Mohammed, Kamel & Guesmi, Khaled, 2023. "A way forward to end energy poverty in China: Role of carbon-cutting targets and net-zero commitments," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    4. Lan, Jing & Khan, Sufyan Ullah & Sadiq, Muhammad & Chien, Fengsheng & Baloch, Zulfiqar Ali, 2022. "Evaluating energy poverty and its effects using multi-dimensional based DEA-like mathematical composite indicator approach: Findings from Asia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    5. Li, Jinkai & Gao, Ming & Luo, Erga & Wang, Jingyi & Zhang, Xuebiao, 2023. "Does rural energy poverty alleviation really reduce agricultural carbon emissions? The case of China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    6. Ren, Yi-Shuai & Jiang, Yong & Narayan, Seema & Ma, Chao-Qun & Yang, Xiao-Guang, 2022. "Marketisation and rural energy poverty: Evidence from provincial panel data in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    7. Omar, Md Abdullah & Hasanujzaman, Muhammad, 2021. "Multidimensional energy poverty in Bangladesh and its effect on health and education: A multilevel analysis based on household survey data," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    8. Ye, Yuxiang & Koch, Steven F., 2021. "Measuring energy poverty in South Africa based on household required energy consumption," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    9. Shahzad, Umer & Gupta, Mansi & Sharma, Gagan Deep & Rao, Amar & Chopra, Ritika, 2022. "Resolving energy poverty for social change: Research directions and agenda," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    10. Lin, Boqiang & Wang, Yao, 2020. "Does energy poverty really exist in China? From the perspective of residential electricity consumption," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    11. Nie, Peng & Li, Qiaoge & Sousa-Poza, Alfonso, 2021. "Energy poverty and subjective well-being in China: New evidence from the China Family Panel Studies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    12. Huang, Yatao & Jiao, Wenxian & Wang, Kang & Li, Erling & Yan, Yutong & Chen, Jingyang & Guo, Xuanxuan, 2022. "Examining the multidimensional energy poverty trap and its determinants: An empirical analysis at household and community levels in six provinces of China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    13. Siyou Xia & Yu Yang & Xiaoying Qian & Xin Xu, 2022. "Spatiotemporal Interaction and Socioeconomic Determinants of Rural Energy Poverty in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-15, August.
    14. Qurat-ul-Ann, Abre-Rehmat & Mirza, Faisal Mehmood, 2020. "Meta-analysis of empirical evidence on energy poverty: The case of developing economies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    15. Wang, Wei & Xiao, Weiwei & Bai, Caiquan, 2022. "Can renewable energy technology innovation alleviate energy poverty? Perspective from the marketization level," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    16. Awan, Ashar & Bilgili, Faik & Rahut, Dil Bahadur, 2022. "Energy poverty trends and determinants in Pakistan: Empirical evidence from eight waves of HIES 1998–2019," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    17. Bezerra, Paula & Cruz, Talita & Mazzone, Antonella & Lucena, André F.P. & De Cian, Enrica & Schaeffer, Roberto, 2022. "The multidimensionality of energy poverty in Brazil: A historical analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    18. Jun Zhang & Yuang He & Jing Zhang, 2022. "Energy Poverty and Depression in Rural China: Evidence from the Quantile Regression Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(2), pages 1-21, January.
    19. Ma, Cong & Cheok, Mui Yee, 2022. "The impact of financing role and organizational culture in small and medium enterprises: Developing business strategies for economic recovery," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 26-38.
    20. Wang, Xiong & Yang, Wanping & Ren, Xiaohang & Lu, Zudi, 2023. "Can financial inclusion affect energy poverty in China? Evidence from a spatial econometric analysis," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 255-269.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Energy poverty; Government subsidies; Targeted cash transfers; Policy evaluation; China;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C42 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Survey Methods
    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General
    • E61 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Policy Objectives; Policy Designs and Consistency; Policy Coordination

    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:enepol:v:180:y:2023:i:c:s0301421523002379. 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/enpol .

    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.