Exuberance in China's renewable energy investment: Rationality, capital structure and implications with firm level evidence

Dayong Zhang, Hong Cao and Peijiang Zou

Energy Policy, 2016, vol. 95, issue C, 468-478

Abstract: The new century has witnessed phenomenal worldwide growth in renewable energy investments. China has been especially remarkable, surpassing both the US and the EU in 2013. Some recent facts, however, have raised the question of whether exuberant investment in China’s renewable energy sector is rational. This paper aims to contribute to the literature and to the debate in two ways. First, it tests the over-investment hypothesis based on the main stream finance methodology; second, it analyzes the role of capital structure in the performance of China's renewable energy firms. Empirical results show that overinvestment in the renewable energy sector exists. The problem is more significant in the biomass and wind sector. Capital structure is found to be more important to downstream firms, indicating that policy makers may provide support that enables these firms to finance their investments through corporate bonds, commercial credit, or long-terms debts.

Keywords: Renewable energy; Over-investment; Capital structure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G11 Q20 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (58)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:enepol:v:95:y:2016:i:c:p:468-478

DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2015.12.005

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