The effects of long–distance power transmission on employment growth: Empirical evidence from ultra–high voltage projects of China

Li Zhao, Zhengye Gao and Shenggang Ren

Energy Economics, 2024, vol. 138, issue C

Abstract: Long–distance power transmission is a crucial solution for alleviating the uneven distribution of energy and promoting economic development. This work is the first to provide an estimate of the benefits to employment of long–distance power transmission. Using unique data from the China National Tax Survey Database for the years 2007–2016, we utilized ultra–high voltage (UHV) project of China as an exogenous shock to investigate how long–distance power transmission affects firms' labor demand by employing the difference–in–differences method. We found that the UHV system significantly increased firms' labor demand. A mechanism analysis suggested that the UHV system did this mainly by facilitating firm entry and expanding firm production scale. A heterogeneity analysis indicated that, compared with provinces with low grid reliability and grid capacity, firms in provinces with high grid reliability and grid capacity exhibited a stronger response to the UHV system in terms of labor demand. Our research findings provide a new solution for countries to balance resource distribution, energy transition, and employment growth.

Keywords: Long-distance power transmission; Ultra-high voltage projects; Firm labor demand (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140988324005589
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:138:y:2024:i:c:s0140988324005589

DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2024.107850

Access Statistics for this article

Energy Economics is currently edited by R. S. J. Tol, Beng Ang, Lance Bachmeier, Perry Sadorsky, Ugur Soytas and J. P. Weyant

More articles in Energy Economics from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().