Distribution dynamics of energy intensity in Chinese cities

This paper examines the dynamic behaviour of energy intensity across Chinese cities. It employs a dynamic distribution approach which takes economic size into consideration. The results support the existence of convergence in terms of energy intensity among Chinese cities during the sample period. However, bimodality is the dominant characteristic in the long-term distribution using the full sample. The results also show that the distribution dynamics of energy intensity differ greatly among city groups in terms of geographical location, environmental policy, and population size. Weighting by economic size does not change the convergence trend of energy intensity, but has a significant influence on the long-term distribution. Neglecting economic size may overstate the energy reduction performance in Chinese cities. Furthermore, the results also suggest that geographical location, income level, and city population size have a significant impact on the spatial distribution dynamics of energy intensity. However, the formation of convergence clubs is complicated and thus requires further investigation.