Household fuel choice in urban China: A random effect generalized probit analysis

Abstract

Using seven rounds of household survey data that span more than a decade, this paper analyzes the determinants of household fuel choice in urban China. Unlike the existing studies, we use an empirical strategy that takes into account the potential heterogeneous effects of socio-economic factors in households’ preference ordering. Robustness of this empirical strategy is checked against alternative methods. The results show that household fuel choice in urban China is related to fuel prices, household’s economic status and size, and household head’s gender, education and occupation. Our results suggest that policies and interventions that raise household income, reduce prices of clean fuel sources, and empower women in the household are of great significance in encouraging the adoption of clean energy sources.