| China has won the war against poverty in 2020,leaving an indelible mark on global poverty reduction.However,we also need to soberly realize that the complete elimination of absolute poverty does not mean the end of poverty,but the focus of poverty alleviation will be shifted to relative poverty and new poverty.The pursuit of a higher material standard of living and the importance of full and fair social development will become the main factors of "post-well-off" era.As a new type of poverty in the post-well-off era,energy poverty is one of the factors restricting residents’ sense of gain and happiness,and also sets a speed bump for achieving the "double carbon goal".Energy consumption is closely related to the five dimensions of residents’ cooking,lighting,home appliance services,entertainment and communication.Eliminating energy poverty is the premise of increasing residents’ life happiness and satisfaction.Clean,diversified,refined and high-level demands for energy are also an important dimension for Chinese residents to meet their needs for a better life after China enters a new era of socialism with characteristics.Therefore,exploring the impact of China’s energy poverty on residents’ welfare and verifying its potential mechanism is one of the basic premises for the academic and policy circles to further understand energy poverty,and then formulate corresponding poverty reduction policies to improve residents’ well-being.Based on the above background,this paper aims to answer the following four questions: 1)What is the current situation of the energy use structure of Chinese residents? Are there differences between urban and rural areas and between regions? 2)How to understand the connotation of energy poverty applicable to Chinese residents and how to calculate the energy poverty line? 3)What impact does energy poverty have on residents’ welfare? Whether the impact of energy poverty on residents’ welfare is heterogeneous between urban and rural areas,between regions and between individuals.4)If energy poverty has an impact on residents’ welfare,what is the mechanism of this impact? With the above questions,this paper has used comparative analysis,mathematical analysis,econometric analysis and other research methods to explore the above problems,and obtained the following main results:1)The current situation and structure of residential energy use in China show significant differences between urban and rural areas and between regions,which are related to the level of economic development and the endowment of fossil energy resources.Firstly,from the perspective of urban and rural areas,the total energy consumption of urban residents is higher than that of rural residents,and the consumption of clean energy of urban residents is greater than that of rural residents,while the consumption of non-clean energy is smaller than that of rural residents.Specifically,urban residents’ consumption of clean secondary energy such as electricity,natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas is much higher than that of rural residents.Only two types of non-clean energy,coal and conventional biomass,are consumed much more in rural areas than in urban areas.Secondly,there are also significant differences in residential energy structure among regions.From the perspective of east-west longitude,the total energy consumption of residents in the eastern region is greater than that in the central and western regions,and the electricity consumption is also much higher than that in the central and western regions.From the perspective of North-South dimension,the total energy consumption of northern residents is higher than that of southern residents,but the demand for electric energy of southern residents is greater than that of northern residents.On the other hand,the consumption of coal and natural gas shows obvious characteristics of natural endowment.For example,residents in Shanxi,Shaanxi and Guizhou have a high dependence on coal,and residents in Xinjiang have a relatively large demand for natural gas.Based on the micro data of household energy consumption in CGSS2015,this paper uses the dual-extended linear expenditure system model(2-ELES)to calculate the energy poverty line of Chinese residents,which is 824.412 yuan/year.Combined with the characteristics of China’s urban-rural differences,regional differences and so on,the urban,rural and regional energy poverty lines were calculated.2)Energy poverty significantly reduces household welfare,and this effect is heterogeneous across towns,regions,and individuals.Based on the data of CLDS2012,CLDS2014 and CLDS2016,this paper conducts an empirical study on the impact of energy poverty incidence and energy poverty intensity on residents’ welfare based on the control function model.The estimates show that,after controlling for individual and household characteristics,as well as province and year,the incidence of energy poverty significantly reduces the welfare of residents.In addition,after taking into account the replacement of the explained variables,the exclusion of the economic poverty sample,and the use of various causal identification strategies and sensitivity analysis,it is found that the estimation results are still robust.This indicates that when the household is energy poor,the probability of welfare reduction increases;When the intensity of energy poverty is higher,the welfare of residents is lower.In addition,this paper analyzes the heterogeneity of energy poverty on residents’ welfare between urban and rural areas,between regions and between individuals.The heterogeneity results show that energy poverty affects the welfare of both urban and rural residents,but the impact degree is different.When households fall into energy poverty in rural areas,the probability of welfare loss of residents is greater than that in urban areas,and the negative effect of energy poverty intensity on welfare of residents is also higher than that in urban areas.Similarly,the estimation results are heterogeneous among regions.The results of east-west longitude heterogeneity show that energy poverty will significantly reduce the welfare of residents in the eastern and western regions.The results of North-South heterogeneity indicate that energy poverty is more likely to have a negative impact on the welfare of residents in the South.Finally,the impact of energy poverty on individual welfare is also different among gender and ethnic groups: the negative impact of energy poverty is stronger among women and ethnic minorities.3)Residents’ health is the influencing mechanism of energy poverty affecting residents’ welfare.Energy poverty has a negative impact on the subjective,objective and mental health of adults.The study finds that exposure to energy poverty significantly reduces the subjective health of adults,and this negative effect is greater in rural areas;In addition,energy poverty will reduce the objective health level of residents,that is,energy poverty will significantly increase the probability of residents with abnormal lung function,and also significantly increase the probability of residents with underweight BMI.Finally,energy poverty also increases the probability of psychological ill health,that is,residents whose households are energy poor are more likely to have "no hope for life" and "feel lonely".In addition,this paper also explores the impact of energy poverty on the health of offspring,and found that energy poverty increases the probability of minors going to hospitals and hospitalization.This study finds that energy poverty not only reduces the health of adults,but also the health of minors.4)Employment quality is the mechanism through which energy poverty affects residents’ welfare.It is found that energy poverty reduces the probability of employment,but has no effect on the working hours of residents.It should be noted that the impact of energy poverty on the employment quality of residents is more obvious.When the household is energy poverty,the employment quality of residents is lower,which is reflected in the employment form,employment stability and employment satisfaction of residents.In terms of employment pattern,when the household is in energy poverty,residents are more inclined to the probability of "self-employed worker",while the probability of "employee" decreases.In addition,for rural households,energy poverty reduces the probability of off-farm employment of rural labor;Employment stability:When the households are energy poverty,the employment stability of residents is lower.Employment satisfaction: When households are energy poverty,residents’ employment satisfaction is also significantly reduced.5)Children’s academic performance is the influencing mechanism of energy poverty on residents’ welfare.Unlike other mechanisms,energy poverty can affect the welfare of residents through the academic performance of their children.Through the empirical study,it can be found that energy poverty has a negative impact on the academic performance of both children under 10 years old and children over 10 years old.Specifically,for children under the age of 10,energy poverty significantly reduces children’s math scores,but has no effect on language scores.For children over the age of 10,energy poverty can have a negative impact on a child’s class achievement ranking.Based on the above research conclusions,the possible policy implications of this paper lie in the following five aspects: First,further optimize the structure of rural residents’ energy consumption and reduce the energy cost of urban residents.Second,we will adjust the energy consumption structure in light of local conditions and coordinate energy supply relations among regions.Third,establish the standard of energy poverty scientifically and objectively and establish a long-term mechanism to alleviate energy poverty.Fourth,we should focus on vulnerable groups and guard against falling into the "poverty trap".Fifth,concern about the harm of energy poverty to the next generation,attach importance to the human capital of minors. |
