IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v378y2025ipas0306261924021676.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The energy-saving effect of green fiscal policy: Empirical evidence from China's comprehensive demonstration cities of energy conservation and emission reduction fiscal policy

Author

Listed:
  • Zhou, Yicheng
  • Lin, Boqiang

Abstract

Fiscal policy is a crucial tool to achieve energy conservation and emission reduction (ECER), and can provide necessary fiscal support for the green economic transformation. This paper systematically discusses the influencing mechanism of green fiscal policy (GFP) on electricity consumption, and then constructs a time-varying difference-in-difference (DID) model based on the quasi-natural experiment of comprehensive demonstration cities of energy conservation and emission reduction fiscal policy (ECERFP), and empirically tests the relationship between GFP and urban electricity consumption by combining urban panel data. The results show that ECERFP can not only significantly reduce urban electricity consumption directly, but also reduce urban electricity consumption through industrial structure upgrading, public transportation development and green technological innovation. Meanwhile, economic growth targets and fiscal decentralization can regulate the energy-saving effect of ECERFP. Specifically, fiscal decentralization can enhance the energy-saving effect of ECERFP, but the economic growth targets are not conducive to exerting the energy-saving effect of ECERFP. More importantly, there is the urban heterogeneity impact of ECERFP on urban electricity consumption. In the east, west, big cities and developed cities, the energy-saving effect of ECERFP is more obvious. In addition, ECERFP can reduce electricity consumption not only in the industrial sector, but also in the household sector. The findings present empirical evidence for the application of GFP in ECER.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhou, Yicheng & Lin, Boqiang, 2025. "The energy-saving effect of green fiscal policy: Empirical evidence from China's comprehensive demonstration cities of energy conservation and emission reduction fiscal policy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 378(PA).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:378:y:2025:i:pa:s0306261924021676
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2024.124784
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261924021676
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2024.124784?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. Han, Li & Kung, James Kai-Sing, 2015. "Fiscal incentives and policy choices of local governments: Evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 89-104.
    2. Säll, Sarah & Gren, Ing-Marie, 2015. "Effects of an environmental tax on meat and dairy consumption in Sweden," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 41-53.
    3. Xiangfeng Ji & Muhammad Umar & Shahid Ali & Wajid Ali & Kai Tang & Zeeshan Khan, 2021. "Does fiscal decentralization and eco‐innovation promote sustainable environment? A case study of selected fiscally decentralized countries," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(1), pages 79-88, January.
    4. Li, Sheng & Samour, Ahmed & Irfan, Muhammad & Ali, Madad, 2023. "Role of renewable energy and fiscal policy on trade adjusted carbon emissions: Evaluating the role of environmental policy stringency," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 156-165.
    5. Chen, Jiandong & Li, Yuqing & Xu, Yiyin & Vardanyan, Michael & Shen, Zhiyang & Song, Malin, 2023. "The impact of fiscal technology expenditures on innovation drive and carbon emissions in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    6. Ruoyu Wang & Qi Zhang, 2017. "Local Governments' Fiscal Pressure and the Dependence on Polluting Industries in China," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 25(4), pages 109-130, July.
    7. Zhu, Bangzhu & Zhang, Mengfan & Zhou, Yanhua & Wang, Ping & Sheng, Jichuan & He, Kaijian & Wei, Yi-Ming & Xie, Rui, 2019. "Exploring the effect of industrial structure adjustment on interprovincial green development efficiency in China: A novel integrated approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    8. Paredes, Dusan & Rivera, Nathaly M., 2017. "Mineral taxes and the local public goods provision in mining communities," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 328-339.
    9. Yuan, Shengyun & Li, Changhao & Wang, Mingyang & Wu, Hao & Chang, Lei, 2023. "A way toward green economic growth: Role of energy efficiency and fiscal incentive in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 599-609.
    10. Risch, Anna, 2020. "Are environmental fiscal incentives effective in inducing energy-saving renovations? An econometric evaluation of the French energy tax credit," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    11. Wu, Haijun & Yang, Jidong & Yang, Qijing, 2021. "The pressure of economic growth and the issuance of Urban Investment Bonds: Based on panel data from 2005 to 2011 in China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    12. Khan, Zeeshan & Ali, Shahid & Dong, Kangyin & Li, Rita Yi Man, 2021. "How does fiscal decentralization affect CO2 emissions? The roles of institutions and human capital," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    13. Kalhoro, Muhammad Ramzan & Kyaw, Khine, 2024. "Manage biodiversity risk exposure?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    14. Oestreich, Andreas Marcel, 2017. "On optimal audit mechanisms for environmental taxes," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 62-83.
    15. Jia, Junxue & Liu, Yongzheng & Martinez-Vazquez, Jorge & Zhang, Kewei, 2021. "Vertical fiscal imbalance and local fiscal indiscipline: Empirical evidence from China," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    16. Malin Song & Heting Pan & Michael Vardanyan & Zhiyang Shen, 2023. "Evaluating the energy efficiency-enhancing potential of the digital economy: Evidence from China," Post-Print hal-04277444, HAL.
    17. Deng, Haiyan & Zheng, Wangyi & Shen, Zhiyang & Štreimikienė, Dalia, 2023. "Does fiscal expenditure promote green agricultural productivity gains: An investigation on corn production," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 334(C).
    18. Yang, Mian & Yang, Fuxia & Sun, Chuanwang, 2018. "Factor market distortion correction, resource reallocation and potential productivity gains: An empirical study on China's heavy industry sector," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 270-279.
    19. Zhang, Cuifang & Xiang, Xiandeng, 2023. "Fiscal decentralization, environmental policy stringency, and resource sustainability: Panacea or Pandora's box in high resource consuming countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    20. Lv, Bingyang & Liu, Yongzheng & Li, Yan, 2020. "Fiscal incentives, competition, and investment in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    21. Fan, Weina & Anser, Muhammad Khalid & Nasir, Muhammad Hamid & Nazar, Raima, 2023. "Uncertainty in firm innovation scheme and impact of green fiscal policy; Economic recovery of Chinese firms in the post-Covid-19 era," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 1424-1439.
    22. Wang, Qingxi & Hu, An & Tian, Zhihua, 2022. "Digital transformation and electricity consumption: Evidence from the Broadband China pilot policy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    23. Ren, Siyu & Hao, Yu & Xu, Lu & Wu, Haitao & Ba, Ning, 2021. "Digitalization and energy: How does internet development affect China's energy consumption?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    24. Lima de Paulo, Felipe Luiz & Camões, Pedro Jorge Sobral, 2019. "Ecological Fiscal Transfers for Biodiversity Conservation Policy: A Transaction Costs Analysis of Minas Gerais, Brazil," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 1-1.
    25. Huang, Feipeng, 2023. "How does trade and fiscal decentralization leads to green growth; role of renewable energy development," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 214(C), pages 334-341.
    26. Tiwari, Aviral Kumar & Eapen, Leena Mary & Nair, Sthanu R, 2021. "Electricity consumption and economic growth at the state and sectoral level in India: Evidence using heterogeneous panel data methods," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    27. Zhou, Qianling & Li, Tao & Gong, Liutang, 2022. "The effect of tax incentives on energy intensity: Evidence from China's VAT reform," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    28. Bhadbhade, Navdeep & Yilmaz, Selin & Zuberi, Jibran S. & Eichhammer, Wolfgang & Patel, Martin K., 2020. "The evolution of energy efficiency in Switzerland in the period 2000–2016," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    29. Zhang, Zhengyong & Xu, Zefeng & Ding, Yi, 2023. "Do economic growth target constraints affect firm innovation?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 373-388.
    30. Liangliang Liu & Wenqing Zhang, 2022. "How does vertical fiscal imbalance affect energy consumption in China?," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 65(8), pages 1560-1577, July.
    31. Que, Wei & Zhang, Yabin & Liu, Shaobo, 2018. "The spatial spillover effect of fiscal decentralization on local public provision: Mathematical application and empirical estimation," Applied Mathematics and Computation, Elsevier, vol. 331(C), pages 416-429.
    32. Jiang, Mingrui & Luo, Sumei & Zhou, Guangyou, 2020. "Financial development, OFDI spillovers and upgrading of industrial structure," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    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. Zhou, Kuo & Qu, Zhi & Wei, Zhixuan & Zhao, Jiyang, 2023. "Does government fiscal pressure matter for firm environmental performance? The role of environmental regulation and tax competition," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 1187-1204.
    2. Lin, Boqiang & Zhou, Yicheng, 2021. "How does vertical fiscal imbalance affect the upgrading of industrial structure? Empirical evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    3. Xu, Ru-Yu & Wang, Ke-Liang & Miao, Zhuang, 2024. "The impact of digital technology innovation on green total-factor energy efficiency in China: Does economic development matter?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    4. Li, Hongmei & Xu, Ruizhe, 2023. "Impact of fiscal policies and natural resources on ecological sustainability of BRICS region: Moderating role of green innovation and ecological governance," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PB).
    5. Wang, Di & Ren, Cairu & Zhou, Tao, 2021. "Understanding the impact of land finance on industrial structure change in China: Insights from a spatial econometric analysis," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    6. Lin, Boqiang & Zhou, Yicheng, 2021. "Does fiscal decentralization improve energy and environmental performance? New perspective on vertical fiscal imbalance," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 302(C).
    7. Tang, Peng & Feng, Yue & Li, Min & Zhang, Yanyan, 2021. "Can the performance evaluation change from central government suppress illegal land use in local governments? A new interpretation of Chinese decentralisation," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    8. Ren, Siyu & Hao, Yu & Wu, Haitao, 2022. "The role of outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) on green total factor energy efficiency: Does institutional quality matters? Evidence from China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    9. Li, Menghan & Zhang, Kaiyue & Alamri, Ahmad Mohammed & Ageli, Mohammed Moosa & Khan, Numan, 2023. "Resource curse hypothesis and sustainable development: Evaluating the role of renewable energy and R&D," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    10. Mengyao Liu & Yan Hou & Hongli Jiang, 2023. "The Energy-Saving Effect of E-Commerce Development—A Quasi-Natural Experiment in China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-22, June.
    11. Junbai Pan & Kun Lv & Shurong Yu & Dian Fu, 2022. "What Mechanisms Do Financial Marketization and China’s Fiscal Decentralization Have on Regional Energy Intensity? Evidence Based on Spatial Spillover and Panel Threshold Effects Perspectives," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-27, May.
    12. Wang, Xiang & Yin, Jian & Yang, Yao & Muda, Iskandar & Abduvaxitovna, Shamansurova Zilola & AlWadi, Belal Mahmoud & Castillo-Picon, Jorge & Abdul-Samad, Zulkiflee, 2023. "Relationship between the resource curse, Forest management and sustainable development and the importance of R&D Projects," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PA).
    13. Wang, Bo & Wang, Jianda & Dong, Kangyin & Nepal, Rabindra, 2024. "How does artificial intelligence affect high-quality energy development? Achieving a clean energy transition society," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    14. Kate Hynes & Yongzheng Liu & Jie Ma & Ian Wooton, 2022. "Tax competition for FDI: China’s exceptional approach," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 29(3), pages 788-809, June.
    15. Ge, Tao & Li, Chunying & Li, Jinye & Hao, Xionglei, 2023. "Does neighboring green development benefit or suffer from local economic growth targets? Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    16. Dong, Kangyin & Liu, Yang & Wang, Jianda & Dong, Xiucheng, 2024. "Is the digital economy an effective tool for decreasing energy vulnerability? A global case," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    17. Huwei Wen & Yupeng Liu & Yutong Liu, 2024. "Impact of Digitalization on Investment and Productivity of Manufacturing Industry: Evidence from China," SAGE Open, , vol. 14(3), pages 21582440241, September.
    18. Yixin Chen & Bingyang Lyu & Guangrong Ma, 2024. "Revenue sharing, fiscal incentives, and economic growth: Evidence from China," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 77(1), pages 149-183, February.
    19. Youshuai Sun & Demi Zhu & Zhenyu Zhang & Na Yan, 2022. "Does Fiscal Stress Improve the Environmental Efficiency? Perspective Based on the Urban Horizontal Fiscal Imbalance," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-23, May.
    20. Xue, Yan & Tang, Chang & Wu, Haitao & Liu, Jianmin & Hao, Yu, 2022. "The emerging driving force of energy consumption in China: Does digital economy development matter?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).

    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:appene:v:378:y:2025:i:pa:s0306261924021676. 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/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    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.