Empirical Research On Regional Differences In Energy Economic Efficiency Of China

Economy efficiency of energy consumption is low in China, for following an extensive way of growth. It is necessary to improve energy economic efficiency. The resource endowment differences in China contribute to huge regional differences. In the analysis of energy economic efficiency, this paper considers the spatial characteristics and efficiency differences of each region, and introduces cluster analysis method to divide 30 provinces into three groups creatively. Consequently, the results are more targeted and practical significant.In the theoretical analysis, this paper concludes the main factors that influence energy economic efficiency including industrial structure, technical structure, technological progress, energy consumption structure and energy prices.An empirical analysis is done to measure the economic efficiency of energy consumption. The 30 provinces in China are divided into three groups:high efficiency /medium efficiency /low efficiency. Two models are built using panel data from 2005 to 2012 including an equilibrium model in the long term and an ECM model in the short term. The models analyze how industrial structure, technical structure, technological progress, energy consumption structure and energy prices influence the efficiency of energy consumption across the three groups both in the long term and in the short term. Suggestions are given to improve economic efficiency of energy consumption.The outcome of the model indicates:1)Among the five factors that may influence the efficiency of energy consumption, technological progress only impacts efficiency in the long term, and the other four factors can affect efficiency both in the long term and short term.2) Industrial structure influences all groups both in the long term and short term; it has the strongest impact on high efficiency group.3) Technical structure and energy consumption structure have the strongest impact on low efficiency group both in the long term and short term.4) Energy price only influences efficiency in high efficiency group in the short term; while in the long term medium efficiency group is mostly influenced by this factor.5) In the short term model, the efficiency is also affected by residual. Low efficiency group has the largest residual; that means this group is the fastest one to return to equilibrium level after deviating from the balance.To measure whether the goal of "12th Five-Year Plan" could be achieved, this paper uses VAR model to forecast the energy consumption per unit of GDP. The result of VAR indicates that China can reduce 16% of energy consumption per unit of GDP than 2010 by the end of 2015, and can achieve the goal of "12th Five-Year Plan".