Ziyuan Kexue (Feb 2023)
The effect of village attraction on rural household clean energy transition: An explanation from informal off-farm employment
Abstract
[Objective] Accessing modern and clean energy can provide a win-win opportunity for rural households by improving the living standard and family welfare. But the energy transition in rural China is facing great challenges from the loss of local population caused by the large-scale rural-urban migration. This study focused on the typical informal off-farm employment in rural China and explored the impacts of household rural-urban migration and employment choices on their energy use decisions from a village attraction perspective, which provides a new livelihood explanation for the current energy transition issue. [Methods] The village attraction indicators were calculated based on the pooled cross-sectional data from the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) of 2010 to 2015. The intergenerational mobility indicators were calculated to measure the village attraction level in the sample counties. The direct and indirect impacts of village attraction on household energy transition were explored based on a dataset from the CGSS of 2015. Causal mediation analysis was employed to test the mechanism of informal off-farm employment. Permutation test was employed to measure the intergenerational differences in the effects. [Results] The higher the village attraction level, the higher ratio of gas and electricity in energy consumption a household accepted (direct effect). Local informal off-farm employment played an important mediation role in the effects of village attraction on rural household clean energy acceptance (indirect effect). The significant direct and indirect effects were robust when the explained variables changed from energy use structure to clean energy equipment acceptance. But there were no interactive effects of village attraction and informal off-farm employment on household energy transition. The younger residents who were born after 1970 were more likely to engage in local informal off-farm employment, which promoted their acceptance of clean energy. The effects of women’s off-farm employment were not significant in any generation. [Conclusion] This study highlighted the important role of village attraction in rural energy transition. The households, especially younger households, living in more attractive villages were more likely to engage in informal off-farm employment. The local off-farm employment of young people was an essential driver for rural energy transition. The results illustrate the significance of rebuilding village prosperity and attracting more young adults to engage in local employment to promote the transformation to clean energy use. These findings contribute to enriching the research on rural sustainable development.
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