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Digital inclusive finance and energy poverty: Empirical evidence from China

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  • Wang, Xueyang
  • Liu, Wenling
  • Sun, Xiumei
  • Ahmad, Mahmood

Abstract

Energy poverty remains a significant challenge confronting the global energy system. China, as the largest emerging country in the world, faces severe challenges in energy poverty. This study constructs a multidimensional energy poverty index to explore the impact of digital inclusive finance development on energy poverty using the system generalized method of moments and panel quantile regression. The empirical analysis demonstrates that digital inclusive finance development significantly curtails regional energy poverty. Statistically, a 1 % increase in the digital inclusive finance index reduces regional energy poverty by 0.0355 %. The internal mechanism test reveals that the breadth of coverage and depth of usage have an inhibitory effect on regional energy poverty. Further analysis of external mechanism indicates that digital inclusive finance development improves energy consumption structure, facilitates industrial structure upgrading, increases government support, and consequently reduce energy poverty. Panel quantile results demonstrate that digital inclusive finance alleviates energy poverty only at the 10th, 30th, and 50th quantile levels. These findings provide valuable insights for reducing energy poverty and promoting sustainable energy development.

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  • Wang, Xueyang & Liu, Wenling & Sun, Xiumei & Ahmad, Mahmood, 2025. "Digital inclusive finance and energy poverty: Empirical evidence from China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:211:y:2025:i:c:s1364032124010347
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2024.115308
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