Balancing Environmental Regulation and Marketization: A Quantile Analysis of Energy Efficiency in China’s Provinces

Junguo Shi, Wenyi Yan, Yan Li, Qian Wang and Shanshan Dou ()
Additional contact information
Junguo Shi: School of Finance and Economics, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
Wenyi Yan: School of Finance and Economics, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
Yan Li: School of Finance and Economics, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
Qian Wang: School of Finance and Economics, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
Shanshan Dou: School of Business, Wuxi Taihu University, Wuxi 214064, China

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 7, 1-21

Abstract: This study investigates the impact of environmental regulations and marketization on energy efficiency in China using panel data from 30 provinces covering the period from 2008 to 2016. The analysis employs fixed effects regression, quantile regression, and heterogeneity analysis methods to provide comprehensive insights. The fixed effects regression results reveal that both command-and-control (CAC) regulations and market-based (MBR) regulations exert a negative impact on energy efficiency. Notably, marketization significantly mitigated the adverse effects of CAC regulations. Quantile regression analysis indicates that both negative impacts are more pronounced at lower energy efficiency levels, whereas marketization (MR) significantly mitigates these effects. Heterogeneity analysis further identified regional disparities, with CAC regulations yielding more significant negative impacts in the Western and Central regions and MBR showing stronger effects in the Western region. The results advocate for regionally differentiated policies that account for local economic, infrastructural, and institutional contexts to enhance energy efficiency outcomes rather than relying on one-size-fits-all approaches.

Keywords: energy efficiency; environmental regulation; marketization; command-and-control policies; market-based regulations; quantile regression (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/7/1857/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/7/1857/ (text/html)

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:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:7:p:1857-:d:1629443

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().