Factors Influencing Energy Intensity in Four Chinese Industries

44 Pages Posted: 20 Apr 2016

See all articles by Karen Fisher-Vanden

Karen Fisher-Vanden

Pennsylvania State University

Yong Hu

Pennsylvania State University

Gary H. Jefferson

Brandeis University - International Business School

Michael T. Rock

Bryn Mawr College

Michael Toman

World Bank - Development Research Group (DECRG)

Date Written: July 1, 2013

Abstract

Energy intensity has declined significantly in four Chinese industries -- pulp and paper; cement; iron and steel; and aluminum. While previous studies have identified technological change within an industry to be an important influence on energy intensity, few have examined how industry-specific policies and market factors also affect industry-level intensity. This paper employs unique firm-level data from China's most energy-intensive large and medium-size industrial enterprises in each of these four industries over a six-year period from 1999 to 2004. It empirically examines how China's energy-saving programs, liberalization of domestic markets, openness to the world economy, and other policies, contribute to the decline in energy intensity in these industries. The results suggest that rising energy costs are a significant contributor to the decline in energy intensity in all four industries. China's industrial policies targeting scale economies -- for example, "grasping the large, letting go off the small" -- also seem to have contributed to reductions in energy intensity in these four industries. However, the results also suggest that trade openness and technology development led to declines in energy intensity in only one or two of these industries. Finally, the analysis finds that energy intensities vary among firms with different ownership types and regional locations.

Keywords: Energy Production and Transportation, Environment and Energy Efficiency, Energy and Environment, Water and Industry, E-Business

Suggested Citation

Fisher-Vanden, Karen and Hu, Yong and Jefferson, Gary H. and Rock, Michael T. and Toman, Michael, Factors Influencing Energy Intensity in Four Chinese Industries (July 1, 2013). World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 6551, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2304086

Karen Fisher-Vanden

Pennsylvania State University ( email )

University Park
State College, PA 16802
United States

Yong Hu

Pennsylvania State University

University Park
State College, PA 16802
United States

Gary H. Jefferson

Brandeis University - International Business School ( email )

Mailstop 32
Waltham, MA 02454-9110
United States

Michael T. Rock

Bryn Mawr College ( email )

Michael Toman

World Bank - Development Research Group (DECRG) ( email )

1818 H. Street N.W.
MSN3-311
Washington, DC 20433
United States

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