IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v177y2023ics0301421523001404.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Community-based energy revolution: An evaluation of China's photovoltaic poverty alleviation Program's economic and social benefits

Author

Listed:
  • Xiao, Han
  • Song, Feng
  • Zheng, Xinye
  • Chen, Jiaying

Abstract

We use a unique micro dataset from the period of 2014–2021 to evaluate China's Photovoltaic Poverty Alleviation (PVPA) program. By employing a difference-in-differences strategy, we find that the community-based PVPA stations distributed in China are anti-poverty facilities that can reconcile equity and efficiency. The PVPA program not only significantly increases the total income of treated households, but also reduces the within-village inequality and encourages off-farm labor supply. Heterogeneity analysis suggests that the effect of PVPA is more substantial for households with a high dependency ratio and in villages where officials are well-educated. The benefit-cost ratio of a village-level PVPA station is greater than one, indicating that the community-based PVPA program is cost-effective.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiao, Han & Song, Feng & Zheng, Xinye & Chen, Jiaying, 2023. "Community-based energy revolution: An evaluation of China's photovoltaic poverty alleviation Program's economic and social benefits," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:177:y:2023:i:c:s0301421523001404
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2023.113555
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421523001404
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2023.113555?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. Guanghua Wan & Zhangyue Zhou, 2005. "Income Inequality in Rural China: Regression‐based Decomposition Using Household Data," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(1), pages 107-120, February.
    2. Gharad Bryan & Shyamal Chowdhury & Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak, 2014. "Underinvestment in a Profitable Technology: The Case of Seasonal Migration in Bangladesh," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 82(5), pages 1671-1748, September.
    3. de la Tour, Arnaud & Glachant, Matthieu & Ménière, Yann, 2011. "Innovation and international technology transfer: The case of the Chinese photovoltaic industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 761-770, February.
    4. Wang, Shuna & Yao, Yang, 2007. "Grassroots Democracy and Local Governance: Evidence from Rural China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 1635-1649, October.
    5. Ouyang, Xiaoling & Lin, Boqiang, 2014. "Levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of renewable energies and required subsidies in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 64-73.
    6. Rodrigues, Sandy & Chen, Xiaoju & Morgado-Dias, F., 2017. "Economic analysis of photovoltaic systems for the residential market under China's new regulation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 467-472.
    7. Benjamin, Dwayne & Brandt, Loren, 1997. "Land, Factor Markets, and Inequality in Rural China: Historical Evidence," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 460-494, October.
    8. Joshi, Lalita & Choudhary, Deepak & Kumar, Praveen & Venkateswaran, Jayendran & Solanki, Chetan S., 2019. "Does involvement of local community ensure sustained energy access? A critical review of a solar PV technology intervention in rural India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 272-281.
    9. Lenz, Luciane & Munyehirwe, Anicet & Peters, Jörg & Sievert, Maximiliane, 2017. "Does Large-Scale Infrastructure Investment Alleviate Poverty? Impacts of Rwanda’s Electricity Access Roll-Out Program," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 88-110.
    10. ZHANG, Yangyang & ZHENG, Xinye & XIE, Lunyu, 2021. "How do poverty alleviation coordinators help the impoverished in rural China? -- Evidence from the Chinese poor population tracking dataset," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    11. Biswas, Wahidul K. & Diesendorf, Mark & Bryce, Paul, 2004. "Can photovoltaic technologies help attain sustainable rural development in Bangladesh?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(10), pages 1199-1207, July.
    12. Bart Sweerts & Stefan Pfenninger & Su Yang & Doris Folini & Bob Zwaan & Martin Wild, 2019. "Author Correction: Estimation of losses in solar energy production from air pollution in China since 1960 using surface radiation data," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 4(8), pages 718-718, August.
    13. Bardhan, Pranab & Mookherjee, Dilip, 2005. "Decentralizing antipoverty program delivery in developing countries," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(4), pages 675-704, April.
    14. Xin-gang, Zhao & Zhen, Wang, 2019. "Technology, cost, economic performance of distributed photovoltaic industry in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 53-64.
    15. Huiming Zhang & Kai Wu & Yueming Qiu & Gabriel Chan & Shouyang Wang & Dequn Zhou & Xianqiang Ren, 2020. "Solar photovoltaic interventions have reduced rural poverty in China," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-10, December.
    16. Li, Yan & Zhang, Qi & Wang, Ge & McLellan, Benjamin & Liu, Xue Fei & Wang, Le, 2018. "A review of photovoltaic poverty alleviation projects in China: Current status, challenge and policy recommendations," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 214-223.
    17. Liao, Chuan & Fei, Ding & Huang, Qingxu & Jiang, Lu & Shi, Peijun, 2021. "Targeted poverty alleviation through photovoltaic-based intervention: Rhetoric and reality in Qinghai, China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    18. Tsoutsos, Theocharis & Frantzeskaki, Niki & Gekas, Vassilis, 2005. "Environmental impacts from the solar energy technologies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 289-296, February.
    19. Bart Sweerts & Stefan Pfenninger & Su Yang & Doris Folini & Bob Zwaan & Martin Wild, 2019. "Estimation of losses in solar energy production from air pollution in China since 1960 using surface radiation data," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 4(8), pages 657-663, August.
    20. Liao, Chuan & Fei, Ding, 2019. "Poverty reduction through photovoltaic-based development intervention in China: Potentials and constraints," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 1-10.
    21. Park, Albert & Wang, Sangui, 2010. "Community-based development and poverty alleviation: An evaluation of China's poor village investment program," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(9-10), pages 790-799, October.
    22. Shen, Yan & Yao, Yang, 2008. "Does grassroots democracy reduce income inequality in China?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(10-11), pages 2182-2198, October.
    23. Han, Mengyao & Xiong, Jiao & Wang, Siyuan & Yang, Yu, 2020. "Chinese photovoltaic poverty alleviation: Geographic distribution, economic benefits and emission mitigation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    24. Tiantian Zhang & Meng Wang & Hongxing Yang, 2018. "A Review of the Energy Performance and Life-Cycle Assessment of Building-Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-34, November.
    25. Wan, Guanghua, 2004. "Accounting for income inequality in rural China: a regression-based approach," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 348-363, June.
    26. Felix Creutzig & Peter Agoston & Jan Christoph Goldschmidt & Gunnar Luderer & Gregory Nemet & Robert C. Pietzcker, 2017. "The underestimated potential of solar energy to mitigate climate change," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 2(9), pages 1-9, September.
    27. Zhang, Li & Xie, Lunyu & Zheng, Xinye, 2023. "Across a few prohibitive miles: The impact of the Anti-Poverty Relocation Program in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    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. Liu, Jing & Hu, Jiantuan & Wan, Qing & Ming, Junren & Shuai, Chuanmin, 2024. "Energy services for solar PV projects: Exploring the accessibility and affordability of clean energy for rural China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 299(C).
    2. Wang, Chaofan & Zhao, Yujia & Strezov, Vladimir & Shuai, Chuanmin & Cheng, Xin & Shuai, Jing, 2023. "Spatial correlation analysis of comprehensive efficiency of the photovoltaic poverty alleviation policy - Evidence from 110 counties in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).

    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. Zhineng Hu & Jing Ma & Qiong Feng & C. Patrick Scott & Hani I. Mesak, 2022. "The detection dilemma of marginally non‐poor households in poverty alleviation evaluation: Evidence from a linear quantile mixed model," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(3), pages 1491-1517, August.
    2. Li, Yunwei & Chen, Kui & Ding, Ruixin & Zhang, Jing & Hao, Yu, 2023. "How do photovoltaic poverty alleviation projects relieve household energy poverty? Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    3. Zhang, Lan & Feng, Shuyi & Heerink, Nico & Qu, Futian & Kuyvenhoven, Arie, 2018. "How do land rental markets affect household income? Evidence from rural Jiangsu, P.R. China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 151-165.
    4. Wang, Chaofan & Shuai, Jing & Ding, Liping & Lu, Yang & Chen, Jia, 2022. "Comprehensive benefit evaluation of solar PV projects based on multi-criteria decision grey relation projection method: Evidence from 5 counties in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 238(PB).
    5. Yin, Hui & Zhou, Kaile, 2022. "Performance evaluation of China's photovoltaic poverty alleviation project using machine learning and satellite images," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    6. Ding, Liping & Zhang, Zumeng & Dai, Qiyao & Zhu, Yuxuan & Shi, Yin, 2023. "Alternative operational modes for Chinese PV poverty alleviation power stations: Economic impacts on stakeholders," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    7. Song, Chenchen & Guo, Zhiling & Liu, Zhengguang & Hongyun, Zhang & Liu, Ran & Zhang, Haoran, 2024. "Application of photovoltaics on different types of land in China: Opportunities, status and challenges," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    8. Liu, Yuan & Chen, Jiahui & Zhao, Lutao & Liao, Hua, 2023. "Rural photovoltaic projects substantially prompt household energy transition: Evidence from China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    9. Li, Jiaxin & Wang, Zihan & Cheng, Xin & Shuai, Jing & Shuai, Chuanmin & Liu, Jing, 2020. "Has solar PV achieved the national poverty alleviation goals? Empirical evidence from the performances of 52 villages in rural China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    10. XING, Li & FAN, Shenggen & LUO, Xiaopeng & ZHang, Xiaobo, 2009. "Community poverty and inequality in western China: A tale of three villages in Guizhou Province," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 338-349, June.
    11. Xiao, Han & Zheng, Xinye & Xie, Lunyu, 2022. "Promoting pro-poor growth through infrastructure investment: Evidence from the Targeted Poverty Alleviation program in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    12. James Alm & Yongzheng Liu, 2014. "China's Tax-for-Fee Reform and Village Inequality," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(1), pages 38-64, March.
    13. Han, Mengyao & Xiong, Jiao & Wang, Siyuan & Yang, Yu, 2020. "Chinese photovoltaic poverty alleviation: Geographic distribution, economic benefits and emission mitigation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    14. Liu, Jing & Huang, Fubin & Wang, Zihan & Shuai, Chuanmin, 2021. "What is the anti-poverty effect of solar PV poverty alleviation projects? Evidence from rural China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    15. Junxue Jia & Cong Qin & Yongzheng Liu, 2017. "Do Community-Based Development Projects Alleviate Poverty? Evidence from Rural China," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper1722, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    16. Wang, Chaofan & Zhao, Yujia & Strezov, Vladimir & Shuai, Chuanmin & Cheng, Xin & Shuai, Jing, 2023. "Spatial correlation analysis of comprehensive efficiency of the photovoltaic poverty alleviation policy - Evidence from 110 counties in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    17. He, Yongxiu & Che, Yiran & Lyu, Yuan & Lu, Ye & Zhang, Yan, 2022. "Social benefit evaluation of China's photovoltaic poverty alleviation project," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 1065-1081.
    18. Su, Xiaoning & Liu, Pengfei & Mei, Yingdan & Chen, Jiaru, 2023. "The role of rural cooperatives in the development of rural household photovoltaics: An evolutionary game study," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    19. Mu, Ren & Zhang, Xiaobo, 2011. "The role of elected and appointed village leaders in the allocation of public resources: Evidence from a low-income region in China," IFPRI discussion papers 1061, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    20. Song, Zhe & Liu, Jia & Yang, Hongxing, 2021. "Air pollution and soiling implications for solar photovoltaic power generation: A comprehensive review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Photovoltaic poverty alleviation program; Community-based program; Green energy; Labor supply;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • Q20 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - General
    • Q22 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Fishery

    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:eee:enepol:v:177:y:2023:i:c:s0301421523001404. 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/enpol .

    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.