Abstract:
This study applies panel smooth transition regression （PSTR） model to examine the nonlinear relationship between energy consumption and economic growth for 30 provinces in China from 1990 to 2011. Different from existing studies, we consider three variables including per capita real GDP, energy intensity and ratio of gross capital formation to GDP, and compare which is the most suitable variable for the model. As the best threshold variable, gross capital formation to GDP plays a more important role in the relationship between China’ s energy consumption and economic growth. We use the instrumental variable approach to estimate the PSTR model. The main empirical findings are as follows：Firstly, three nonlinear models show a positive relationship between energy consumption and economic growth in China. Secondly, with the real income rises, energy consumption increases first, and after the level of 13 000 RMB, the growth rate will slow clown and becomes more sensitive to the real income. Thirdly, when energy intensity reaches 4. 567 7 and ratio of gross capital formation to GI）P reaches to 516. 297 47 billion RMB, models will tend to high regime respectively. Furthermore, when threshold variable is the ratio of gross capital formation to GDP, we calculate the PSTR model and get the energy consumption elasticity series by eliminating the disparity of regions, and we find that the value increases gradually, which showed energy consumption tends to be more sensitive to economic growth.
Fund：
the National Natural Science Foundation of China, "Empirical Simulation Study of China's Economic Low-carbon Transformation under the Pressure of Climate Policy" (No.: 71073009)；National Science and Technology Support Program "Key Supporting Policies and Technologies for Green and Low Carbon Development in China" (No. 2012BAC20B08)； Key discipline funding projects of School of Economics and Management, Tianjin University of Science and Technology；
Key words:
Energy consumption; Economic growth; PSTR model
Reference:
He, X., & Pan, H. (2013). Nonlinear Relationship Between Energy Consumption and Economic Growth: Evidence from PSTR Approach. China Population Resources and Environment, 23(12), pp.84-89. （《基于PSTR模型的中国能源消费与经济增长非线性关系研究》
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