| ID | 185721 |
| Title Proper | Cooking fuel choices and subjective well-being in rural China |
| Other Title Information | Implications for a complete energy transition |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Ma, Wanglin |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | This paper examines the impacts of cooking fuel choices on individuals' subjective well-being, measured by happiness and life satisfaction, using open-access data from the 2016 China Labor-force Dynamics Survey. We analyze the impacts by employing a multivalued treatment effects model that accounts for selectivity bias. Unlike previous studies that consider households' binary fuel use decisions or specific fuel choices, we capture the households' fuel-stacking behaviors (using multiple fuels) by classifying cooking fuels into clean fuels, non-clean fuels, and mixed-fuels. The empirical results show that complete energy transition (i.e., switching from either non-clean fuels or mixed fuels to clean fuels) significantly improves individuals' happiness and life satisfaction. In comparison, incomplete energy transition (i.e., shifting from non-clean fuels to mixed fuels) does not significantly impact individuals' subjective well-being. A complete energy transition increases people's subjective well-being in the eastern and central parts of China but has no impact on those living in western China. Furthermore, switching from non-clean fuels to clean fuels significantly reduces happiness inequality and life satisfaction inequality. Switching to cleaner fuels also significantly increases individuals' self-reported health. We recommend that the government in China make concerted efforts to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and clean energy sources and accelerate rural households' energy transition. |
| `In' analytical Note | Energy Policy Vol. 165; Jun 2022: p.112992 |
| Journal Source | Energy Policy 2022-06 165 |
| Key Words | China ; Energy Transition ; Happiness ; Life Satisfaction ; Cooking Fuel Choices |