The unintended consequence of human capital intensity on energy intensity: Evidence from China

IF 5.2 1区经济学 Q1 ECONOMICS

中国经济评论 Pub Date : 2025-06-11 DOI:10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102473

Yang Xu , Wenbin Xiang , Peng Du , Liang Cao

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Human capital is an essential determinant of economic growth. Exploiting the exogenous policy of university expansion in China as a quasi-experiment, this paper investigates the unintended impact of human capital intensity on energy intensity at the firm level using a difference-in-differences strategy. We find that the increase in human capital intensity reduces firms' energy intensity, thus improving energy efficiency. We find that more white-collar jobs and potential skill upgrades are the main drivers of reduced energy intensity. Moreover, we find that the impact on energy intensity is larger for private firms, light industry firms and firms in non-capital cities. Our findings provide an unintended but important consequence of human capital improvement through the lens of energy consumption.

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人力资本密集度对能源密集度的意外影响：来自中国的证据

人力资本是经济增长的重要决定因素。本文以中国大学扩招的外生政策为准实验，运用差异中的差异策略，从企业层面考察了人力资本强度对能源强度的非预期影响。研究发现，人力资本强度的提高降低了企业的能源强度，从而提高了能源效率。我们发现，更多的白领工作和潜在的技能升级是能源强度降低的主要驱动因素。此外，我们发现民营企业、轻工业企业和非首都城市的企业对能源强度的影响更大。我们的研究结果通过能源消耗的角度提供了人力资本改善的一个意想不到但重要的结果。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

中国经济评论 ECONOMICS-

CiteScore

10.60

自引率

4.40%

发文量

380

期刊介绍： The China Economic Review publishes original works of scholarship which add to the knowledge of the economy of China and to economies as a discipline. We seek, in particular, papers dealing with policy, performance and institutional change. Empirical papers normally use a formal model, a data set, and standard statistical techniques. Submissions are subjected to double-blind peer review.