A Study On Energy Efficiency Based On China's Real Estate Investment And High Energy-consuming Industries

The real estate industry is generally considered to be a typical representative of the extensive economic development mode.Its long industrial chain and large degree of linkages make it gradually become a vital part of China's economic development.Largescale real estate investment will increase the demand of products in high energy-consuming industries such as steel and cement,which is not conducive to the improvement of energy efficiency in the economy.However,this point of view ignores the stimulus of real estate investment on other related industries,especially the service industries whose energy efficiency are generally higher than that of the manufacturing industries,which is conducive to the improvement of the energy efficiency of the economy.The overall effect of real estate investment on energy efficiency depends on the magnitude of these two opposing forces.In addition to the real estate industry,energy consumption in China's six high energyconsuming industries,which accounts for about 70% of China's industrial energy consumption and accounts for about 50% of China's total energy consumption,is of crucial importance to the evolution of China's total energy consumption and energy efficiency.If the total-factor productivity of these six high energy-consuming industries is improved,then the input factors,including energy,can be saved at a given output level.It can increase the energy efficiency of the economy.This paper studies the impact of real estate investment on energy efficiency from the perspective of real estate investment and six high energyconsuming industries' firms,as well as the impact of the size of firms and R&D investment of firms of the six high energy-consuming industries on its total-factor productivity.From the perspective of the real estate industry,after the reform of housing system in 1998,China's real estate industry has experienced rapid development since 2004.Real estate investment among provinces is extremely uneven,and there are considerable differences,which provides a good sample for studying the impact of real estate investment on energy efficiency.Through data envelopment analysis and panel data model analysis,it is found that a certain degree of real estate investment can promote the improvement of the total-factor energy efficiency of the economy,but excessive real estate investment will hinder the improvement of total-factor energy efficiency,and there exists a non-liner characteristic of real estate investment on energy efficiency.With respect to improving energy efficiency,real estate investment in Beijing,Shanghai,Hainan and Zhejiang Province has already exceeded the optimal level,but improving real estate investment in most central and western provinces will contribute to total-factor energy efficiency.From the perspective of the six high energy-consuming industries,when the government regulates these firms,size is often an important reference.However,there is no consistent conclusion about the relationship between firm size and total-factor productivity in the existing literature,while this paper provides new empirical evidence for the relationship between firm size and total-factor productivity by using large sample data of China's six high energy-consuming firms.The paper finds that in China's six high energyconsuming industries,on average,small and large-scale firms have relatively high totalfactor productivity,while medium-sized firms have relatively low total-factor productivity,and there is an “U-shaped” relationship between firm size and total-factor productivity;When using subsamples of different size intervals for estimation,we have obtained various conclusions about the relationship between firm size and total-factor productivity in the existing literature.Therefore,the contradictory conclusions about the relationship between firm size and total-factor productivity in existing literatures are likely to be caused by the size of the firms used in their samples being in different scales.R&D investment is generally considered to be an important way to improve the productivity of firms.However,whether the R&D investment will definitely bring about the improvement of productivity is still controversial.This paper uses the propensity score matching and panel data model analysis respectively to find that R&D investment has not improved firms' total-factor productivity in the six high energy-consuming industries of China,especially in state-owned firms,which even had a negative impact on their total-factor productivity,thus R&D funds have not been effectively utilized.In the six high energy-consuming industries,the average R&D investment intensity of firms is no more than 0.30%,which is relatively at such a low level.The incentives for firms to invest in R&D are too low.Therefore,effective R&D subsidy policies and energy price reforms should be enforced,which can lure firms of six high energy-consuming industries conduct continuous R&D investment to increase its total-factor productivity,thereby achieving conservation of energy and other input factors,and reducing the energy and environmental pressures faced in the process of economic development.