Do urbanization, income, and trade affect electricity consumption across Chinese provinces?

The aimof this paper is to investigate the short- and long-run links among urbanization, output (Gross Domestic Product, GDP), trade openness, and electricity consumption in China, using a rich dataset at the provincial level. The short-run Granger causality analysis discloses a unidirectional causal relationship running fromelectricity to output and weak feedback effects between trade and urbanization. The long-run Granger causality analysis shows output, urbanization, and trade trigger electricity consumption whereas trade, urbanization, and electricity cause output. The Group Mean and Lambda-Pearson causality tests reveal a large heterogeneity in the longrun effects which suggests there is no one-size fits all policy and each region should formulate a differentiated urbanization/growth strategy based on its own characteristics to control electricity utilization. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.