Impact of new energy demonstration city policy on energy efficiency: Evidence from China

This study extended the causal inference regarding the impact of the New Energy Demonstration City (NEDC) policy on energy efficiency. The effect of the NEDC policy on energy efficiency was assessed by integrating the Super Efficiency Epsilon-Based Measure (SE-EBM) model and the Propensity Score Matching Difference-in-Differences (PSM-DID) method, using panel data from 271 cities in China between 2006 and 2020. Initially, the SE-EBM model was utilized to measure energy efficiency. Subsequently, the PSM-DID model was employed to evaluate the effect of the NEDC policy on energy efficiency. The findings revealed that the NEDC policy had significantly enhanced energy efficiency in demonstration cities by approximately 4.8% compared to non-demonstration cities. To ensure the reliability of the results, we conducted five tests and confirmed that the policy effect was significant only after a lag of two periods. It was found that green technology innovation was a key channel for the NEDC policy to improve energy efficiency. This study offers valuable insights into the impact of energy transition policy on energy efficiency and lays a theoretical foundation for designing effective urban energy transition policies.