Abstract
The integration of energy finance is an emerging trend in international financial development, which is an inevitable product of the integration of energy and economy. Exploring the relationship between digital finance (DF) and energy consumption is of particular significance for achieving sustainable development of the energy economy. This paper uses a fixed-effects model to analyze Chinese provincial panel data from 2011 to 2020 to explore the ways in which DF affects energy consumption. The analysis shows an inverted U-shaped relationship between DF and energy consumption. Different aspects of DF have varying effects on energy consumption. There is regional diversity in the influence of DF on energy. Economic growth plays a crucial intermediary role in the impact of DF on energy usage. Our research supports the implementation of government policies aimed at advancing DF for environmental conservation purposes.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank all the people who have contributed diligently to our research and the reviewers, whose conscientiousness and professionalism I deeply admire, for their valuable comments and suggestions, which have played a very important role in improving the paper and the research.
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This work was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant numbers [2023-JJ-B1-03]).
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Zhang, S., Li, X. & Shi, D. How does digital finance affect energy consumption in China? Empirical evidence from China. Environ Dev Sustain (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-023-04329-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-023-04329-z