The Effect Evaluation of China’s Energy-Consuming Right Trading Policy: Empirical Analysis Based on PSM-DID

Abstract

Identifying the policy effect of Energy-Consuming Right Trading (ECRT), clarifying its mechanism of energy conservation and consumption reduction, is beneficial to realize the win–win situation of economic growth and emission reduction in China. This study first builds a Propensity Score Matching–Difference-in-Differences (PSM-DID) model and empirically tests the impact of Energy-Consuming Right Trading policy on energy intensity in pilot areas based on inter-provincial panel data from 2010 to 2019. Then the policy mechanism was analyzed by further regression, and the spatial effects of the policy were explored by the Spatial Difference-in-Differences (SDID) model. The results show that: (1) The policy can reduce energy intensity by 6.4% to 10.2% in the pilot area. (2) The policy mainly achieves energy consumption reduction by optimizing the industrial structure and promoting scientific and technological input, while the resource tax intensity and the proportion of coal consumption also have synergistic and hindering effects on the policy. (3) There is a significant spatial spillover effect of the policy; it can reduce the energy intensity of the adjacent areas of the pilot by 5.3% and the areas with a high economic association with the pilot by 12%. The conclusion is that China’s Energy-Consuming Right Trading policy can effectively control energy consumption, and the policy shows an excellent positive external effect, worth nationwide implementation. Finally, some policy suggestions are put forward according to the results of the empirical analysis.