The heterogeneous effect of administrative level of cities on energy efficiency: a panel study of China

ABSTRACTAlthough the nexus between urbanization and energy efficiency has been evidenced at the macro level, we have less knowledge about the effects of administrative level of cities on energy efficiency. Understanding this impact mechanism is necessary to achieve goals of energy conservation and sustainable development. We estimate the relationship between the administrative level of cities and energy efficiency in China by adopting the province-level fixed-effect models from a panel dataset. The empirical findings present that energy efficiency of capital cities is 0.46 (95% Confidence Interval: −0.713, −0.206) lower than that of general cities. Moreover, these effects of administrative level are more substantial in underdeveloped cities. These findings suggest that more political sources and autonomy in the higher-level cities might lead to low energy efficiency.KEYWORDS: Energy efficiencyadministrative level of citiesenergy consumptionenvironmental pollutionJEL CLASSIFICATION: Q01Q38Q48Q52Q56R58H76 Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Supplementary materialSupplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/17538963.2023.2230403.Additional informationFundingThis study was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities [JKE02232201] and the Funds for the Construction of the First-class Disciplines in East China University of Science and Technology [SLE00234001].