Addressing energy poverty through education: How does gender matter?

Rabindra Nepal, Jiajia Dong, Jun Zhao and Tooraj Jamasb

Energy Economics, 2025, vol. 141, issue C

Abstract: Energy poverty (EPT) has emerged as a major policy concern in developed, transition, and developing economies. In China, energy has been a key enabler of economic and social development in recent decades. However, EPT can reduce the positive effects of this development. This paper studies the relationship between the key social-economic-geographic factors and EPT and further discusses the heterogeneity of various aspects and the mechanism roles of income inequality and gender educational inequality by using panel data of 30 Chinese provinces from 2002 to 2021. The main findings are: (1) An increase in per capita education reduces EPT; (2) the negative effect of education on EPT is stronger in the midwestern provinces; (3) the contribution of female education in alleviating urban EPT is substantially greater than that of male education; (4) in towns and villages, the impact of male education on EPT is greater than that of female education; and (5) income inequality and gender educational inequality are valid mechanisms in the education-EPT nexus. We put forward policy recommendations for improving the education level, narrowing education and gender inequality, and decreasing income gaps to alleviate EPT.

Keywords: Educational level; Energy poverty; Gender inequality; Mechanism analysis; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C23 I21 O18 P46 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:141:y:2025:i:c:s0140988324007382

DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2024.108029

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