Chronic energy poverty in China: measurement and estimation with a new approach

Energy poverty has multidimensional and dynamic nature and is hard to measure quantitatively. This paper combines AF double-cut-off method, and the duration analysis approach to develop both the CUEP index and CMEP index and utilizes the Cox proportional hazard model to check the role of energy efficiency in poverty alleviation. Results are based on data in the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) from 2011 to 2018. The findings suggest that 75.887% of households are deprived of CUEP, and nearly 50% of the residents are suffering from CMEP in China. Additionally, nearly 33.546% of the households are deprived only in the dimension of affordability, and there is an obvious overlap between the incidence of two indexes, of which 42.372% of the households simultaneously suffer from deprivation in affordability, accessibility, and availability. Finally, the improvement in energy efficiency reduces the duration of energy poverty and increases the state transition of energy poverty. The presented concept and approach could be expanded to investigate energy poverty in other developing countries and assist policymakers to assess the benefits of energy policies.