IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v7y2015i5p5609-5627d49282.html

The Relationship between Urbanization, Economic Growth and Energy Consumption in China: An Econometric Perspective Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Yabo Zhao

    (School of Geography, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China)

  • Shaojian Wang

    (School of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
    Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China)

Abstract

As the largest developing country in the world, with rapid economic growth, China has witnessed fast-paced urbanization development over the past three decades. In fact, urbanization has been shown to promote economic growth and improve the livelihood of people, but it can also increase energy consumption and further generate energy crisis. Therefore, a better understanding of the relationship between urbanization, economic growth and energy consumption is important for China’s future sustainable development. This paper empirically investigates the long-term equilibrium relationships, temporal dynamic relationships and causal relationships between urbanization, economic growth and energy consumption in China. Econometric models are utilized taking the period 1980–2012 into consideration. Cointegration tests indicate that the variables are found to be of I (1) and cointegrated. Further, vector error-correction model (VECM) indicates that when the short-term fluctuations deviate from the long-term equilibrium, the current changes of energy consumption could eliminate 9.74% non-equilibrium error of the last period, putting back the situation to the equilibrium state through a reverse adjustment. Impulse response analysis intuitively portrays the destabilized changes of the variables in response to some external shocks. However, the impact of energy consumption shock on urbanization and the impact of urbanization on economic growth seem to be rather marginal. Moreover, Granger causality results reveal that there is a bi-directional Granger causal relationship between energy consumption and economic growth, and unidirectional causality running from urbanization to energy consumption and economic growth to urbanization. The findings have important implications for Chinese policymakers that on the path towards a sustainable society, the effects of urbanization and economic growth on energy consumption must be taken into consideration.

Suggested Citation

  • Yabo Zhao & Shaojian Wang, 2015. "The Relationship between Urbanization, Economic Growth and Energy Consumption in China: An Econometric Perspective Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(5), pages 1-19, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:7:y:2015:i:5:p:5609-5627:d:49282
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/7/5/5609/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/7/5/5609/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Parshall, Lily & Gurney, Kevin & Hammer, Stephen A. & Mendoza, Daniel & Zhou, Yuyu & Geethakumar, Sarath, 2010. "Modeling energy consumption and CO2 emissions at the urban scale: Methodological challenges and insights from the United States," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(9), pages 4765-4782, September.
    2. Brantley Liddle & George Messinis, 2015. "Which comes first - urbanization or economic growth? Evidence from heterogeneous panel causality tests," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(5), pages 349-355, March.
    3. Yu Liu & Hongwei Xiao & Precious Zikhali & Yingkang Lv, 2014. "Carbon Emissions in China: A Spatial Econometric Analysis at the Regional Level," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(9), pages 1-19, September.
    4. Ghosh, Sajal & Kanjilal, Kakali, 2014. "Long-term equilibrium relationship between urbanization, energy consumption and economic activity: Empirical evidence from India," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 324-331.
    5. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Lean, Hooi Hooi, 2012. "Does financial development increase energy consumption? The role of industrialization and urbanization in Tunisia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 473-479.
    6. Bing Xue & Yong Geng & Katrin Müller & Chengpeng Lu & Wanxia Ren, 2014. "Understanding the Causality between Carbon Dioxide Emission, Fossil Energy Consumption and Economic Growth in Developed Countries: An Empirical Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(2), pages 1-9, February.
    7. Zhu Liu & Dabo Guan & Douglas Crawford-Brown & Qiang Zhang & Kebin He & Jianguo Liu, 2013. "A low-carbon road map for China," Nature, Nature, vol. 500(7461), pages 143-145, August.
    8. Wang, Shaojian & Fang, Chuanglin & Guan, Xingliang & Pang, Bo & Ma, Haitao, 2014. "Urbanisation, energy consumption, and carbon dioxide emissions in China: A panel data analysis of China’s provinces," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 738-749.
    9. Jones, Donald W., 1991. "How urbanization affects energy-use in developing countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 19(7), pages 621-630, September.
    10. repec:aen:journl:1989v10-04-a03 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. 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.
    12. Elliott, Graham & Rothenberg, Thomas J & Stock, James H, 1996. "Efficient Tests for an Autoregressive Unit Root," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(4), pages 813-836, July.
    13. repec:aen:journl:1994si-a04 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Wang, Zhaohua & Yin, Fangchao & Zhang, Yixiang & Zhang, Xian, 2012. "An empirical research on the influencing factors of regional CO2 emissions: Evidence from Beijing city, China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 277-284.
    15. repec:aen:journl:ej34-2-08 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Muhammad Shahbaz & Rashid Sbia & Helmi Hamdi & Ilhan Ozturk, 2014. "Economic growth, electricity consumption, urbanization and environmental degradation relationship in United Arab Emirates," Post-Print halshs-01902764, HAL.
    17. Al-mulali, Usama, 2012. "Factors affecting CO2 emission in the Middle East: A panel data analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 564-569.
    18. Salim, Ruhul A. & Shafiei, Sahar, 2014. "Urbanization and renewable and non-renewable energy consumption in OECD countries: An empirical analysis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 581-591.
    19. Wang, Q.W. & Zhou, P. & Shen, N. & Wang, S.S., 2013. "Measuring carbon dioxide emission performance in Chinese provinces: A parametric approach," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 324-330.
    20. Thorsten Schuetze & Joong-Won Lee & Tae-Goo Lee, 2013. "Sustainable Urban (re-)Development with Building Integrated Energy, Water and Waste Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(3), pages 1-14, March.
    21. Shasha Lu & Xingliang Guan & Chao He & Jiali Zhang, 2014. "Spatio-Temporal Patterns and Policy Implications of Urban Land Expansion in Metropolitan Areas: A Case Study of Wuhan Urban Agglomeration, Central China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(8), pages 1-26, July.
    22. Lenzen, Manfred & Wier, Mette & Cohen, Claude & Hayami, Hitoshi & Pachauri, Shonali & Schaeffer, Roberto, 2006. "A comparative multivariate analysis of household energy requirements in Australia, Brazil, Denmark, India and Japan," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 181-207.
    23. Wang, Qiang, 2014. "Effects of urbanisation on energy consumption in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 332-339.
    24. Kasman, Adnan & Duman, Yavuz Selman, 2015. "CO2 emissions, economic growth, energy consumption, trade and urbanization in new EU member and candidate countries: A panel data analysis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 97-103.
    25. Feng, Taiwen & Sun, Linyan & Zhang, Ying, 2009. "The relationship between energy consumption structure, economic structure and energy intensity in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(12), pages 5475-5483, December.
    26. 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.
    27. 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. Franco, Sainu & Mandla, Venkata Ravibabu & Ram Mohan Rao, K., 2017. "Urbanization, energy consumption and emissions in the Indian context A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 898-907.
    2. 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.
    3. Wang, Shaojian & Fang, Chuanglin & Guan, Xingliang & Pang, Bo & Ma, Haitao, 2014. "Urbanisation, energy consumption, and carbon dioxide emissions in China: A panel data analysis of China’s provinces," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 738-749.
    4. Wang, Qiang & Wu, Shi-dai & Zeng, Yue-e & Wu, Bo-wei, 2016. "Exploring the relationship between urbanization, energy consumption, and CO2 emissions in different provinces of China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 1563-1579.
    5. 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).
    6. Mohammed Musah & Yusheng Kong & Isaac Adjei Mensah & Stephen Kwadwo Antwi & Mary Donkor, 2021. "The connection between urbanization and carbon emissions: a panel evidence from West Africa," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(8), pages 11525-11552, August.
    7. Wu, Haitao & Hao, Yu & Weng, Jia-Hsi, 2019. "How does energy consumption affect China's urbanization? New evidence from dynamic threshold panel models," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 24-38.
    8. 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.
    9. Wang, Shaojian & Fang, Chuanglin & Wang, Yang, 2016. "Spatiotemporal variations of energy-related CO2 emissions in China and its influencing factors: An empirical analysis based on provincial panel data," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 505-515.
    10. Lu, Yuhai & Gong, Mincheng & Lu, Linzhuo & Wang, Yaqin & Wang, Yang, 2024. "Urban polycentrism and total-factor energy efficiency: An analysis based on the night light data," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    11. 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.
    12. Fang, Chuanglin & Wang, Shaojian & Li, Guangdong, 2015. "Changing urban forms and carbon dioxide emissions in China: A case study of 30 provincial capital cities," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 519-531.
    13. Wang, Shaojian & Li, Guangdong & Fang, Chuanglin, 2018. "Urbanization, economic growth, energy consumption, and CO2 emissions: Empirical evidence from countries with different income levels," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P2), pages 2144-2159.
    14. Cai, Zhengyu & Yu, Chin-Hsien & Zhu, Chunhui, 2021. "Government-led urbanization and natural gas demand in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    15. Cheng-Yih Hong & Yu-Shuang Yen & Tsai-Rong Lee, 2019. "The Spillover Effects of Investment, Economic Growth and Electricity Consumption: An Application Mathematical Dynamic Industry-Related Models Approach," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 9(3), pages 313-319.
    16. 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).
    17. Shaojian Wang & Chuanglin Fang & Guangdong Li, 2015. "Spatiotemporal Characteristics, Determinants and Scenario Analysis of CO2 Emissions in China Using Provincial Panel Data," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(9), pages 1-23, September.
    18. Lv, Yulan & Chen, Wei & Cheng, Jianquan, 2019. "Modelling dynamic impacts of urbanization on disaggregated energy consumption in China: A spatial Durbin modelling and decomposition approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    19. Pingxing Li & Wei Sun, 2018. "Temporal Evolution and Influencing Factors of Energy Consumption and Related Carbon Emissions from the Perspective of Industrialization and Urbanization in Shanghai, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-13, August.
    20. Al-mulali, Usama & Fereidouni, Hassan Gholipour & Lee, Janice Y.M. & Sab, Che Normee Binti Che, 2013. "Exploring the relationship between urbanization, energy consumption, and CO2 emission in MENA countries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 107-112.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:gam:jsusta:v:7:y:2015:i:5:p:5609-5627:d:49282. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.