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Governing China’s Clean Energy Transition: Policy Reforms, Flexible Implementation and the Need for Empirical Investigation

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  • Kevin Lo

    (Department of Geography, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, China)

Abstract

In the ten years since committing to clean energy transition, China has formulated a large number of policies and programs to achieve some very ambitious targets. This paper argues that the dearth of empirical studies concerning the implementation of these new policies and programs has created a knowledge gap between official policy documents, which are vague and lacking in specifics, and official policy outcomes, which are unreliable. In particular, the merits and limitations of flexible implementation with regard to desirable outcomes need to be debated and clarified. This paper calls for more empirical investigation in four areas as a starting point: (1) the nature and extent of flexibility in the implementation; (2) implementation strategies and their impacts; (3) factors that shape the behavior of local officials responsible for implementation; and (4) the relationship between the central-local relation and policy implementation.

Suggested Citation

  • Kevin Lo, 2015. "Governing China’s Clean Energy Transition: Policy Reforms, Flexible Implementation and the Need for Empirical Investigation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-10, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:8:y:2015:i:11:p:12367-13264:d:59251
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Lema, Adrian & Ruby, Kristian, 2007. "Between fragmented authoritarianism and policy coordination: Creating a Chinese market for wind energy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 3879-3890, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Kevin Lo & Daphne Ngar-Yin Mah & Guihua Wang & Michael KH Leung & Alex Y Lo & Peter Hills, 2018. "Barriers to adopting solar photovoltaic systems in Hong Kong," Energy & Environment, , vol. 29(5), pages 649-663, August.
    2. Ye Fan & Zhicheng Zhang & Xiaoli Zhao & Haitao Yin, 2018. "Interaction between Industrial Policy and Stock Price Volatility: Evidence from China’s Power Market Reform," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-19, May.
    3. Gangjun Gong & Zhening Zhang & Xinyu Zhang & Nawaraj Kumar Mahato & Lin Liu & Chang Su & Haixia Yang, 2020. "Electric Power System Operation Mechanism with Energy Routers Based on QoS Index under Blockchain Architecture," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-22, January.

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