IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eneeco/v97y2021ics0140988321000724.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The cost of clean energy transition in rural China: Evidence based on marginal treatment effects

Author

Listed:
  • Li, Meng
  • Jin, Tianyu
  • Liu, Shenglong
  • Zhou, Shaojie

Abstract

The clean energy transition in residential sector in rural China is of great significance for climate change mitigation. Using rural household survey from 2005 to 2008, we estimate the marginal treatment effects of using gas on energy expenses in rural China based on the generalized Roy model. Generally, using gas increases the rural household expense on fuel by 65%–80% on average. Essential heterogeneity are proved across different households. The households with lower income, lower educational attainment, smaller floor space are less willing to use gas as their main fuel. The policy-relevant treatment effects show that the household expenses on fuel would increase by at least 80% if the popularity of gas doubled, which might worsen the financial condition of poor families. The policy simulation results imply more flexible rural energy policies should be concerned for heterogeneous families.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Meng & Jin, Tianyu & Liu, Shenglong & Zhou, Shaojie, 2021. "The cost of clean energy transition in rural China: Evidence based on marginal treatment effects," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:97:y:2021:i:c:s0140988321000724
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2021.105167
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140988321000724
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eneco.2021.105167?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. Thomas Cornelissen & Christian Dustmann & Anna Raute & Uta Schönberg, 2018. "Who Benefits from Universal Child Care? Estimating Marginal Returns to Early Child Care Attendance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 126(6), pages 2356-2409.
    2. James J. Heckman & Edward Vytlacil, 2005. "Structural Equations, Treatment Effects, and Econometric Policy Evaluation," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 73(3), pages 669-738, May.
    3. Chen, Qiu & Yang, Haoran & Liu, Tianbiao & Zhang, Lin, 2016. "Household biomass energy choice and its policy implications on improving rural livelihoods in Sichuan, China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 291-302.
    4. Yan, Yutong & Jiao, Wenxian & Wang, Kang & Huang, Yatao & Chen, Jingyang & Han, Qingfeng, 2020. "Coal-to-gas heating compensation standard and willingness to make clean energy choices in typical rural areas of northern China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    5. Cornelissen, Thomas & Dustmann, Christian & Raute, Anna & Schönberg, Uta, 2016. "From LATE to MTE: Alternative methods for the evaluation of policy interventions," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 47-60.
    6. Chen, Le & Heerink, Nico & van den Berg, Marrit, 2006. "Energy consumption in rural China: A household model for three villages in Jiangxi Province," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 407-420, June.
    7. Hosier, Richard H. & Dowd, Jeffrey, 1987. "Household fuel choice in Zimbabwe : An empirical test of the energy ladder hypothesis," Resources and Energy, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 347-361, December.
    8. Pedro Carneiro & James J. Heckman & Edward J. Vytlacil, 2011. "Estimating Marginal Returns to Education," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(6), pages 2754-2781, October.
    9. Shi, Xinjie, 2019. "Inequality of opportunity in energy consumption in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 371-382.
    10. Zhao, Xiaoli & Li, Na & Ma, Chunbo, 2012. "Residential energy consumption in urban China: A decomposition analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 644-653.
    11. James J. Heckman & Sergio Urzua & Edward Vytlacil, 2006. "Understanding Instrumental Variables in Models with Essential Heterogeneity," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 88(3), pages 389-432, August.
    12. Shimei Wu & Xinye Zheng & Chu Wei, 2017. "Measurement of inequality using household energy consumption data in rural China," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 2(10), pages 795-803, October.
    13. Duan, Xiaoli & Jiang, Yong & Wang, Beibei & Zhao, Xiuge & Shen, Guofeng & Cao, Suzhen & Huang, Nan & Qian, Yan & Chen, Yiting & Wang, Limin, 2014. "Household fuel use for cooking and heating in China: Results from the first Chinese Environmental Exposure-Related Human Activity Patterns Survey (CEERHAPS)," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 692-703.
    14. Martin Nybom, 2017. "The Distribution of Lifetime Earnings Returns to College," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 35(4), pages 903-952.
    15. Lu, Yingying & Liu, Yu & Zhou, Meifang, 2017. "Rebound effect of improved energy efficiency for different energy types: A general equilibrium analysis for China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 248-256.
    16. Li, Jianglong & Chen, Chang & Liu, Hongxun, 2019. "Transition from non-commercial to commercial energy in rural China: Insights from the accessibility and affordability," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 392-403.
    17. Teng, Meixuan & Burke, Paul J. & Liao, Hua, 2019. "The demand for coal among China's rural households: Estimates of price and income elasticities," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 928-936.
    18. Jingchao, Zhang & Kotani, Koji, 2012. "The determinants of household energy demand in rural Beijing: Can environmentally friendly technologies be effective?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 381-388.
    19. Christopher Barrington-Leigh & Jill Baumgartner & Ellison Carter & Brian E. Robinson & Shu Tao & Yuanxun Zhang, 2019. "An evaluation of air quality, home heating and well-being under Beijing’s programme to eliminate household coal use," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 4(5), pages 416-423, May.
    20. James J. Heckman, 2010. "Building Bridges between Structural and Program Evaluation Approaches to Evaluating Policy," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 48(2), pages 356-398, June.
    21. Chen, Han & Chen, Wenying, 2019. "Potential impact of shifting coal to gas and electricity for building sectors in 28 major northern cities of China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 236(C), pages 1049-1061.
    22. 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.
    23. van der Kroon, Bianca & Brouwer, Roy & van Beukering, Pieter J.H., 2013. "The energy ladder: Theoretical myth or empirical truth? Results from a meta-analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 20(C), pages 504-513.
    24. S. Tao & M. Y. Ru & W. Du & X. Zhu & Q. R. Zhong & B. G. Li & G. F. Shen & X. L. Pan & W. J. Meng & Y. L. Chen & H. Z. Shen & N. Lin & S. Su & S. J. Zhuo & T. B. Huang & Y. Xu & X. Yun & J. F. Liu & X, 2018. "Quantifying the rural residential energy transition in China from 1992 to 2012 through a representative national survey," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 3(7), pages 567-573, July.
    25. Christian N. Brinch & Magne Mogstad & Matthew Wiswall, 2017. "Beyond LATE with a Discrete Instrument," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 125(4), pages 985-1039.
    26. Richard B. Howarth & Lee Schipper & Bo Andersson, 1993. "The Structure and Intensity of Energy Use: Trends in Five OECD Nations," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2), pages 27-46.
    27. Zhang, Hongwu & Shi, Xunpeng & Wang, Keying & Xue, Jinjun & Song, Ligang & Sun, Yongping, 2020. "Intertemporal lifestyle changes and carbon emissions: Evidence from a China household survey," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    28. Anna, Petrenko, 2016. "Мaркування готової продукції як складова частина інформаційного забезпечення маркетингової діяльності підприємств овочепродуктового підкомплексу," Agricultural and Resource Economics: International Scientific E-Journal, Agricultural and Resource Economics: International Scientific E-Journal, vol. 2(1), March.
    29. James J. Heckman & Vytlacil, Edward J., 2007. "Econometric Evaluation of Social Programs, Part I: Causal Models, Structural Models and Econometric Policy Evaluation," Handbook of Econometrics, in: J.J. Heckman & E.E. Leamer (ed.), Handbook of Econometrics, edition 1, volume 6, chapter 70, Elsevier.
    30. Han, Hongyun & Wu, Shu, 2018. "Rural residential energy transition and energy consumption intensity in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 523-534.
    31. Masera, Omar R. & Saatkamp, Barbara D. & Kammen, Daniel M., 2000. "From Linear Fuel Switching to Multiple Cooking Strategies: A Critique and Alternative to the Energy Ladder Model," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(12), pages 2083-2103, December.
    32. Wickramasinghe, Anoja, 2011. "Energy access and transition to cleaner cooking fuels and technologies in Sri Lanka: Issues and policy limitations," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 7567-7574.
    33. Ma, Wanglin & Zhou, Xiaoshi & Renwick, Alan, 2019. "Impact of off-farm income on household energy expenditures in China: Implications for rural energy transition," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 248-258.
    34. Leach, Gerald, 1992. "The energy transition," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 116-123, February.
    35. Qiu, Huanguang & Yan, Jianbiao & Lei, Zhen & Sun, Dingqiang, 2018. "Rising wages and energy consumption transition in rural China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 545-553.
    36. Zou, Baoling & Luo, Biliang, 2019. "Rural household energy consumption characteristics and determinants in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 182(C), pages 814-823.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Elias Carayannis & Pantelis Kostis & Hasan Dinçer & Serhat Yüksel, 2024. "Quality Function Deployment-Oriented Strategic Outlook to Sustainable Energy Policies Based on Quintuple Innovation Helix," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(2), pages 6761-6779, June.
    2. Shi, Xinjie & Cui, Liu & Huang, Zuhui & Zeng, Pei & Qiu, Tongwei & Fu, Linlin & Jiang, Qiang, 2023. "Impact of internal migration on household energy poverty: Empirical evidence from rural China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 350(C).
    3. Wang, Xueyang & Sun, Xiumei & Ahmad, Mahmood & Zhang, Haotian, 2023. "Does low carbon energy transition impede air pollution? Evidence from China's coal-to-gas policy," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    4. Li, Meng & Zhou, Shaojie, 2023. "Pollutive cooking fuels and rural labor supply: Evidence from a large-scale population census in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    5. Guadalupe Pérez & Jorge M. Islas-Samperio & Genice K. Grande-Acosta & Fabio Manzini, 2022. "Socioeconomic and Environmental Aspects of Traditional Firewood for Cooking on the Example of Rural and Peri-Urban Mexican Households," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-30, July.
    6. Gatto, Andrea & Drago, Carlo & Panarello, Demetrio & Aldieri, Luigi, 2023. "Energy transition in China: Assessing progress in sustainable development and resilience directions," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    7. Luo, Yaping & Wu, Jianxian, 2024. "Before dinner: The health value of gaseous fuels," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    8. Li, Fangyi & Cao, Xin & Ou, Rui, 2021. "A network-based evolutionary analysis of the diffusion of cleaner energy substitution in enterprises: The roles of PEST factors," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    9. Li, Hui & Zhang, Ruining & Ai, Xianneng, 2022. "Cost estimation of “coal-to-gas” project: Government and residents’ perspectives," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    10. Feil, Alex Sandro & Antunes, Carlos Henggeler & da Silva, Patrícia Pereira & de Castro, Nivalde, 2024. "The critical drivers of the Brazilian electricity sector's transition through 2050: A Delphi study," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    11. 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).
    12. Li Huang & Heng Wu & Mi Zhou, 2022. "Implications of Non-Farm Work for Clean Energy Adoption: Evidence from Rural China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-19, December.
    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.

    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. Domenico Depalo, 2020. "Explaining the causal effect of adherence to medication on cholesterol through the marginal patient," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(S1), pages 110-126, October.
    2. Han, Hongyun & Wu, Shu, 2018. "Rural residential energy transition and energy consumption intensity in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 523-534.
    3. Chen, Feifei & Qiu, Huanguang & Zhang, Jun, 2022. "Energy consumption and income of the poor in rural China: Inference for poverty measures," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    4. Matthias Westphal & Daniel A Kamhöfer & Hendrik Schmitz, 2022. "Marginal College Wage Premiums Under Selection Into Employment," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 132(646), pages 2231-2272.
    5. Cornelissen, Thomas & Dustmann, Christian & Raute, Anna & Schönberg, Uta, 2016. "From LATE to MTE: Alternative methods for the evaluation of policy interventions," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 47-60.
    6. Giesecke, Matthias & Schuß, Eric, 2019. "Heterogeneity in marginal returns to language training of immigrants," IAB-Discussion Paper 201919, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    7. Liu, Zhong & Wang, Menghan & Xiong, Qinqin & Liu, Chang, 2020. "Does centralized residence promote the use of cleaner cooking fuels? Evidence from rural China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    8. 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.
    9. Tafti, Elena Ashtari, 2023. "Technology, Skills, and Performance: The Case of Robots in Surgery," CINCH Working Paper Series (since 2020) 78746, Duisburg-Essen University Library, DuEPublico.
    10. Muller, Christophe & Yan, Huijie, 2018. "Household fuel use in developing countries: Review of theory and evidence," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 429-439.
    11. Thomas Cornelissen & Christian Dustmann & Anna Raute & Uta Schönberg, 2018. "Who Benefits from Universal Child Care? Estimating Marginal Returns to Early Child Care Attendance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 126(6), pages 2356-2409.
    12. Yang, Xiaojun & Xu, Jintao & Xu, Xiaojie & Yi, Yuanyuan & Hyde, William F., 2020. "Collective forest tenure reform and household energy consumption: A case study in Yunnan Province, China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    13. Akabayashi, Hideo & Ruberg, Tim & Shikishima, Chizuru & Yamashita, Jun, 2023. "Education-oriented and care-oriented preschools: Implications on child development," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    14. Denni Tommasi & Arthur Lewbel & Rossella Calvi, 2017. "LATE with Mismeasured or Misspecified Treatment: An application to Women's Empowerment in India," Working Papers ECARES ECARES 2017-27, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    15. Teng Ma & Silu Zhang & Yilong Xiao & Xiaorui Liu & Minghao Wang & Kai Wu & Guofeng Shen & Chen Huang & Yan Ru Fang & Yang Xie, 2023. "Costs and health benefits of the rural energy transition to carbon neutrality in China," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    16. Laura Schmitz, 2022. "Heterogeneous Effects of After-School Care on Child Development," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 2006, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    17. Liu, Pihui & Han, Chuanfeng & Liu, Xinghua & Teng, Minmin, 2023. "Assessing the effect of nonfarm income on the household cooking energy transition in rural China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 267(C).
    18. Atul Gupta & Sabrina T Howell & Constantine Yannelis & Abhinav Gupta, 2021. "Does Private Equity Investment in Healthcare Benefit Patients? Evidence from Nursing Homes," Working Papers 2021-20, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    19. Spanos, Yiannis E., 2021. "Exploring heterogeneous returns to collaborative R&D: A marginal treatment effects perspective," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(5).
    20. Felfe, Christina & Lalive, Rafael, 2018. "Does early child care affect children's development?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 33-53.

    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:eneeco:v:97:y:2021:i:c:s0140988321000724. 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/eneco .

    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.