Cooking fuel choices and subjective well-being in rural China: Implications for a complete energy transition

Wanglin Ma, Puneet Vatsa and Hongyun Zheng

Energy Policy, 2022, vol. 165, issue C

Abstract: This paper examines the impacts of cooking fuel choices on individuals' subjective well-being, measured by happiness and life satisfaction, using open-access data from the 2016 China Labor-force Dynamics Survey. We analyze the impacts by employing a multivalued treatment effects model that accounts for selectivity bias. Unlike previous studies that consider households' binary fuel use decisions or specific fuel choices, we capture the households' fuel-stacking behaviors (using multiple fuels) by classifying cooking fuels into clean fuels, non-clean fuels, and mixed-fuels. The empirical results show that complete energy transition (i.e., switching from either non-clean fuels or mixed fuels to clean fuels) significantly improves individuals' happiness and life satisfaction. In comparison, incomplete energy transition (i.e., shifting from non-clean fuels to mixed fuels) does not significantly impact individuals' subjective well-being. A complete energy transition increases people's subjective well-being in the eastern and central parts of China but has no impact on those living in western China. Furthermore, switching from non-clean fuels to clean fuels significantly reduces happiness inequality and life satisfaction inequality. Switching to cleaner fuels also significantly increases individuals' self-reported health. We recommend that the government in China make concerted efforts to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and clean energy sources and accelerate rural households' energy transition.

Keywords: Cooking fuel choices; Happiness; Life satisfaction; Energy transition; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I31 Q42 R11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:enepol:v:165:y:2022:i:c:s0301421522002178

DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2022.112992

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