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

Yang Xu, Wenbin Xiang, Peng Du and Liang Cao

China Economic Review, 2025, vol. 93, issue C

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.

Keywords: College expansion; Human capital intensity; Energy intensity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J24 Q40 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:chieco:v:93:y:2025:i:c:s1043951x25001312

DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102473

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