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Rising wages and energy consumption transition in rural China

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  • Qiu, Huanguang
  • Yan, Jianbiao
  • Lei, Zhen
  • Sun, Dingqiang

Abstract

Residential energy consumption in rural China is undergoing a transition from traditional biomass energy to modern commercial energy. This paper examines the impact of rising wage rates on energy consumption mix in rural China. Using a unique panel data set from our two-round surveys of 409 rural households in 4 provinces, the results show that the wage rate at the village level has a significant negative impact on traditional biomass energy consumption and significant positive effects on consumption of electricity and new renewable energy in rural China. As traditional biomass energy is mainly collected with family labor and is relatively labor intensive, an increase in rural wage rates would enhance the opportunity costs of traditional biomass energy, leading to a reduction in biomass energy consumption. Continuously rising rural wage rates could accelerate the transition from biomass energy to electricity in rural areas. These findings could have important policy implications, not only for indoor air quality and environmental and health issues in rural areas but also for greater security in rural energy supply and policies to incentive farmers to better utilize biomass resource after harvest.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:119:y:2018:i:c:p:545-553
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2018.04.053
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Han, Jiashi & Hou, Xiaochao & Zhang, Lei, 2022. "Policy implications of China's rural household coal governance from the perspective of the spillover effect," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 242(C).
    2. Li, Xingguang, 2023. "Farmland rental market participation and residential energy consumption: Evidence from rural areas in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    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. Wang, Shubin & Sun, Shaolong & Zhao, Erlong & Wang, Shouyang, 2021. "Urban and rural differences with regional assessment of household energy consumption in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 232(C).
    5. Sun, Mingxing & Xu, Xiangbo & Wang, Le & Li, Chang & Zhang, Linxiu, 2021. "Stable energy, energy inequality, and climate change vulnerability in Pan-Third Pole regions: Empirical analysis in cross-national rural areas," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    6. 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).
    7. Han, Jiashi & Zhang, Lei & Li, Yang, 2022. "Spatiotemporal analysis of rural energy transition and upgrading in developing countries: The case of China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 307(C).
    8. Dingqiang Sun & Xinyue Yang & Huanguang Qiu, 2022. "Off-farm work and rural residential energy transition: a farm-household model and empirical evidence from China," China Agricultural Economic Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 14(4), pages 816-831, August.
    9. Huaquan Zhang & Yashuang Tang & Martinson Ankrah Twumasi & Abbas Ali Chandio & Lili Guo & Ruixin Wan & Shilei Pan & Yun Shen & Ghulam Raza Sargani, 2022. "The Effects of Ecological Public Welfare Jobs on the Usage of Clean Energy by Farmers: Evidence from Tibet Areas—China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-16, June.
    10. Jun Bai & Shixiang Li & Nan Wang & Jianru Shi & Xianmin Li, 2020. "Spatial Spillover Effect of New Energy Development on Economic Growth in Developing Areas of China—An Empirical Test Based on the Spatial Dubin Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-17, April.
    11. Li, Xingguang & Zhang, Jianjun, 2024. "Rural digital credit and residential energy consumption: Evidence from the agricultural production perspective," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 290(C).
    12. Xu, Shang & Zhang, Jun, 2023. "The welfare impacts of removing coal subsidies in rural China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    13. Corina Pelau & Carmen Acatrinei, 2019. "The Paradox of Energy Consumption Decrease in the Transition Period towards a Digital Society," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-16, April.
    14. Chen, Qiu & Huang, Jikun & Mirzabaev, Alisher, 2022. "Does fuel price subsidy work? Household energy transition under imperfect labor market in rural China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    15. Wenfeng Zhou & Chen Qing & Shili Guo & Jia He & Xin Deng & Jiahao Song & Dingde Xu, 2022. "Labor Off-Farm Employment and Farmers’ Cooking Clean Energy Use: Evidence from Rural China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-14, July.
    16. Chang, Huayi & Heerink, Nico & Zhang, Junbiao & He, Ke, 2024. "Off-farm employment and household clean energy transition in rural China: A study based on a gender perspective," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 287(C).

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