How an energy policy prevents child migration: A natural experiment of the coal-to-gas policy in China

IF 9.3 2区经济学 Q1 ECONOMICS

Energy Policy Pub Date : 2024-12-28 DOI:10.1016/j.enpol.2024.114487

Yuxin Zhu , Ziming Liu , Daniel Hermann

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Energy policies are designed to improve human living conditions and then attract in-migration. Yet, when energy policies are implemented assertively, they generate unexpected impacts. In this paper, we investigate the impact of an energy policy - the Chinese coal-to-gas policy - on child migration, using data from seven rounds of nationwide surveys of labor migrants from 2012 to 2018. We find a significant and negative effect of the coal-to-gas policy on child migration. The negative effect is greater for poorer families and those with fewer years of migration. We conclude that the assertive implementation of the coal-to-gas policy aggravates the difficulty of migrant children to settle down. We highlight the potential downside of an assertive enforcement of energy policy.

查看原文本刊更多论文

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Energy Policy 管理科学-环境科学

CiteScore

17.30

自引率

5.60%

发文量

540

审稿时长

7.9 months

期刊介绍： Energy policy is the manner in which a given entity (often governmental) has decided to address issues of energy development including energy conversion, distribution and use as well as reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in order to contribute to climate change mitigation. The attributes of energy policy may include legislation, international treaties, incentives to investment, guidelines for energy conservation, taxation and other public policy techniques. Energy policy is closely related to climate change policy because totalled worldwide the energy sector emits more greenhouse gas than other sectors.