Pub Date : 2025-12-12DOI: 10.1016/j.eap.2025.12.012
Xiaoyang Lei, Donghui Yang
Whereas firms have increasingly applied blockchain to facilitate consumers accurately evaluating the green R&D of their products, the related literature is still rare, especially under the consideration of R&D risk. This article examines the blockchain adoption strategies of duopolistic firms that engage in green R&D with R&D risk through a game-theoretic model. It first indicates that due to the differentiation effect, firms may obtain lower expected profits as the R&D success probability increases under all blockchain adoption strategies. Second, it confirms that firms' blockchain adoption strategies are jointly influenced by both R&D risk and unit blockchain adoption cost. Interestingly, one firm elects blockchain while the other firm abandons for the low R&D success probability and the moderate adoption cost. Finally, it finds that more blockchain adoption does not always benefit consumers due to the high charged prices. These findings provide fresh economic implications for competitive firms on their green practices.
{"title":"Duopolistic blockchain adoption strategies with risky green R&D","authors":"Xiaoyang Lei, Donghui Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.12.012","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.12.012","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Whereas firms have increasingly applied blockchain to facilitate consumers accurately evaluating the green R&D of their products, the related literature is still rare, especially under the consideration of R&D risk. This article examines the blockchain adoption strategies of duopolistic firms that engage in green R&D with R&D risk through a game-theoretic model. It first indicates that due to the differentiation effect, firms may obtain lower expected profits as the R&D success probability increases under all blockchain adoption strategies. Second, it confirms that firms' blockchain adoption strategies are jointly influenced by both R&D risk and unit blockchain adoption cost. Interestingly, one firm elects blockchain while the other firm abandons for the low R&D success probability and the moderate adoption cost. Finally, it finds that more blockchain adoption does not always benefit consumers due to the high charged prices. These findings provide fresh economic implications for competitive firms on their green practices.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54200,"journal":{"name":"Economic Analysis and Policy","volume":"89 ","pages":"Pages 402-420"},"PeriodicalIF":8.7,"publicationDate":"2025-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145791470","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-12DOI: 10.1016/j.eap.2025.12.019
Xiaoqi Ma , Tianze Ma
Corporate financing constraints remain a significant challenge, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises. While financial fraud is common, its impact on financing behavior is underexplored. Existing research primarily focuses on its negative effects, with little attention given to whether it might alleviate financing constraints or how this relationship varies across different institutional and policy contexts. Using panel data from A-share listed companies between 2009 and 2023, this study finds that financial fraud significantly reduces financing constraints, with the strongest effect observed in firms facing lower constraints. However, as financing constraints increase, the effect weakens, revealing a nonlinear pattern. Institutional environments, particularly regulatory pressures, play a key moderating role, as stronger compliance and regulatory environments reduce the alleviating effect of financial fraud. In addition, economic policy uncertainty dampens this relationship, while heightened political economic uncertainty tends to strengthen it, suggesting that different forms of macro-level uncertainty influence corporate financing behavior in distinct ways. These findings shed light on the complex role of financial fraud in corporate financing, offering valuable policy implications for balancing regulatory oversight with the financing needs of firms across varied institutional settings.
{"title":"Financial fraud and corporate financing capacity: The moderating effect of institutional environment and economic policy uncertainty","authors":"Xiaoqi Ma , Tianze Ma","doi":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.12.019","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.12.019","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Corporate financing constraints remain a significant challenge, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises. While financial fraud is common, its impact on financing behavior is underexplored. Existing research primarily focuses on its negative effects, with little attention given to whether it might alleviate financing constraints or how this relationship varies across different institutional and policy contexts. Using panel data from A-share listed companies between 2009 and 2023, this study finds that financial fraud significantly reduces financing constraints, with the strongest effect observed in firms facing lower constraints. However, as financing constraints increase, the effect weakens, revealing a nonlinear pattern. Institutional environments, particularly regulatory pressures, play a key moderating role, as stronger compliance and regulatory environments reduce the alleviating effect of financial fraud. In addition, economic policy uncertainty dampens this relationship, while heightened political economic uncertainty tends to strengthen it, suggesting that different forms of macro-level uncertainty influence corporate financing behavior in distinct ways. These findings shed light on the complex role of financial fraud in corporate financing, offering valuable policy implications for balancing regulatory oversight with the financing needs of firms across varied institutional settings.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54200,"journal":{"name":"Economic Analysis and Policy","volume":"89 ","pages":"Pages 591-605"},"PeriodicalIF":8.7,"publicationDate":"2025-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145840796","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-11DOI: 10.1016/j.eap.2025.12.017
Chao Shi , Ning Xu , Zongling Niu
This study employs China's ongoing urban old residential community renovation pilot policy (UORCRPP) as a quasi-natural experiment. Based on panel data from 283 Chinese cities, we apply a difference-in-differences (DID) model to analyze the impact of urban renewal (UR) on urban carbon emissions (UCE) and its transmission mechanisms. The findings reveal that: (1) UR significantly reduces UCE. (2) UR reduces UCE through four transmission mechanisms: infrastructure construction, productive service industry development, resource factor allocation, and economic agglomeration. (3) UR demonstrates stronger carbon reduction effects in central and western cities, southern cities, small and medium-sized cities, non-resource-based cities, non-low-carbon pilot cities, non-new-type urbanization pilot cities, and non-innovation pilot cities. (4) UR generates significant negative spatial spillover effects on UCE in surrounding areas, with maximum negative spatial spillover occurring at a distance of 200 kilometers.
{"title":"Does urban renewal help reduce carbon emissions? Empirical evidence from Chinese cities","authors":"Chao Shi , Ning Xu , Zongling Niu","doi":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.12.017","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.12.017","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study employs China's ongoing urban old residential community renovation pilot policy (UORCRPP) as a quasi-natural experiment. Based on panel data from 283 Chinese cities, we apply a difference-in-differences (DID) model to analyze the impact of urban renewal (UR) on urban carbon emissions (UCE) and its transmission mechanisms. The findings reveal that: (1) UR significantly reduces UCE. (2) UR reduces UCE through four transmission mechanisms: infrastructure construction, productive service industry development, resource factor allocation, and economic agglomeration. (3) UR demonstrates stronger carbon reduction effects in central and western cities, southern cities, small and medium-sized cities, non-resource-based cities, non-low-carbon pilot cities, non-new-type urbanization pilot cities, and non-innovation pilot cities. (4) UR generates significant negative spatial spillover effects on UCE in surrounding areas, with maximum negative spatial spillover occurring at a distance of 200 kilometers.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54200,"journal":{"name":"Economic Analysis and Policy","volume":"89 ","pages":"Pages 384-401"},"PeriodicalIF":8.7,"publicationDate":"2025-12-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145791469","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-10DOI: 10.1016/j.eap.2025.12.016
Ningning Li , Hongqi Shi , Yongjin Wang , Jie Zhang
This paper investigates the impact of labor mobility on monopsony power exercised by micro-firms against workers. We estimate firm-specific wage markdown, departure of wage from marginal revenue product of labor (MRPL), from China’s disaggregate production dataset for the measurement of monopsony power. We employ a difference-in-difference estimation strategy to infer the causal relationship by using the non-uniform implementation of China’s hukou reform as an exogenous shock. The empirical results show that hukou system reform could widen wage markdowns, indicating the relaxation in internal migration restriction allow micro-firms to exert higher monopsony power. The positive impact of hukou reform on MRPL dominates the causality relationship. Our counterfactual experiment by eliminating the positive impact of hukou reform on monopsony power indicates the hukou reform accelerate the declining trend of China’s aggregate labor share.
{"title":"Mobility and monopsony power in labor market: Evidence from China's hukou reform","authors":"Ningning Li , Hongqi Shi , Yongjin Wang , Jie Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.12.016","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.12.016","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper investigates the impact of labor mobility on monopsony power exercised by micro-firms against workers. We estimate firm-specific wage markdown, departure of wage from marginal revenue product of labor (MRPL), from China’s disaggregate production dataset for the measurement of monopsony power. We employ a difference-in-difference estimation strategy to infer the causal relationship by using the non-uniform implementation of China’s hukou reform as an exogenous shock. The empirical results show that hukou system reform could widen wage markdowns, indicating the relaxation in internal migration restriction allow micro-firms to exert higher monopsony power. The positive impact of hukou reform on MRPL dominates the causality relationship. Our counterfactual experiment by eliminating the positive impact of hukou reform on monopsony power indicates the hukou reform accelerate the declining trend of China’s aggregate labor share.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54200,"journal":{"name":"Economic Analysis and Policy","volume":"89 ","pages":"Pages 472-489"},"PeriodicalIF":8.7,"publicationDate":"2025-12-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145791337","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-09DOI: 10.1016/j.eap.2025.12.013
Siyu Zhang , Yuexin Huang , Danglun Luo
Promoting innovation in pharmaceutical manufacturing is crucial for national health. This study investigates the impact of industry regulations on firm innovation by analyzing China's national centralized drug procurement (NCDP) policy. The findings indicate that the regulatory reform has effectively stimulated innovation among pharmaceutical enterprises, particularly non-state-owned ones, which lack political connections, are relatively small in scale, and operate in challenging market environments. The reform exerts its influence by changing product market competition patterns, including altering competition strategies, and intensifying competitive pressures. This study provides empirical evidence supporting the efficacy of industry regulations and offers insights for fostering innovation and development in pharmaceutical enterprises through the lens of market competition.
{"title":"Industry regulation and firm innovation: Evidence from national centralized drug procurement policy in China","authors":"Siyu Zhang , Yuexin Huang , Danglun Luo","doi":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.12.013","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.12.013","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Promoting innovation in pharmaceutical manufacturing is crucial for national health. This study investigates the impact of industry regulations on firm innovation by analyzing China's national centralized drug procurement (NCDP) policy. The findings indicate that the regulatory reform has effectively stimulated innovation among pharmaceutical enterprises, particularly non-state-owned ones, which lack political connections, are relatively small in scale, and operate in challenging market environments. The reform exerts its influence by changing product market competition patterns, including altering competition strategies, and intensifying competitive pressures. This study provides empirical evidence supporting the efficacy of industry regulations and offers insights for fostering innovation and development in pharmaceutical enterprises through the lens of market competition.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54200,"journal":{"name":"Economic Analysis and Policy","volume":"89 ","pages":"Pages 421-441"},"PeriodicalIF":8.7,"publicationDate":"2025-12-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145791471","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-09DOI: 10.1016/j.eap.2025.12.010
Dan Wang , Deng-Kui Si , Chunming Shen
This paper investigates the impact of China's local government debt management (LGDM) reform on corporate total factor productivity (TFP). Exploiting the reform as a quasi-natural experiment, we find that local government debt management significantly enhances corporate TFP. We explore the underlying mechanisms and provide evidence that the reform operated primarily by alleviating firms' financing constraints, increasing firms’ risk-taking, and improving capital allocation efficiency. Furthermore, the above effect is more pronounced among firms in regions with low fiscal pressure and low banking competition, and in more competitive industries. Our findings have important policy implications for mitigating financial risks and stimulating market vitality, thereby facilitating high-quality development of the real economy.
{"title":"Does local government debt management promote corporate total factor productivity? Evidence from China","authors":"Dan Wang , Deng-Kui Si , Chunming Shen","doi":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.12.010","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.12.010","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper investigates the impact of China's local government debt management (LGDM) reform on corporate total factor productivity (TFP). Exploiting the reform as a quasi-natural experiment, we find that local government debt management significantly enhances corporate TFP. We explore the underlying mechanisms and provide evidence that the reform operated primarily by alleviating firms' financing constraints, increasing firms’ risk-taking, and improving capital allocation efficiency. Furthermore, the above effect is more pronounced among firms in regions with low fiscal pressure and low banking competition, and in more competitive industries. Our findings have important policy implications for mitigating financial risks and stimulating market vitality, thereby facilitating high-quality development of the real economy.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54200,"journal":{"name":"Economic Analysis and Policy","volume":"89 ","pages":"Pages 214-227"},"PeriodicalIF":8.7,"publicationDate":"2025-12-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145791468","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-08DOI: 10.1016/j.eap.2025.12.011
Ting Wang , Jiangyuan Wang
This paper investigates the information spillover effects of corporate digital transformation (CDT) from the perspective of analysts’ earnings forecast accuracy, drawing on data from Chinese listed firms. We find that CDT significantly improves forecast accuracy and reduces forecast dispersion, confirming the presence of positive information externalities. Mechanism analyses indicate that these spillovers operate through enhanced management disclosure and intensified analyst information search. Furthermore, the effects are most pronounced among firms with high agency costs, high risk, and high complexity, highlighting the role of digitalization in mitigating severe information frictions. Our study contributes to the economics of information by documenting how corporate digitalization generates knowledge spillovers that enhance market efficiency. The findings provide a microeconomic rationale for targeted public policies that incentivize digital transformation in sectors where information asymmetries are most detrimental to resource allocation.
{"title":"Information spillover effects of corporate digital transformation","authors":"Ting Wang , Jiangyuan Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.12.011","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.12.011","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper investigates the information spillover effects of corporate digital transformation (CDT) from the perspective of analysts’ earnings forecast accuracy, drawing on data from Chinese listed firms. We find that CDT significantly improves forecast accuracy and reduces forecast dispersion, confirming the presence of positive information externalities. Mechanism analyses indicate that these spillovers operate through enhanced management disclosure and intensified analyst information search. Furthermore, the effects are most pronounced among firms with high agency costs, high risk, and high complexity, highlighting the role of digitalization in mitigating severe information frictions. Our study contributes to the economics of information by documenting how corporate digitalization generates knowledge spillovers that enhance market efficiency. The findings provide a microeconomic rationale for targeted public policies that incentivize digital transformation in sectors where information asymmetries are most detrimental to resource allocation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54200,"journal":{"name":"Economic Analysis and Policy","volume":"89 ","pages":"Pages 274-286"},"PeriodicalIF":8.7,"publicationDate":"2025-12-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145791466","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-07DOI: 10.1016/j.eap.2025.12.008
Limin Zhang , Yu Gu , Ying Yu , Lu Pan
Corporate tax avoidance undermines public finances and is widely deemed unethical, raising the question of whether greater corporate transparency can mitigate it. We investigate whether a Chinese stock exchange mandate for industry-specific disclosures can serve as an effective policy tool to curb corporate tax avoidance. Using panel data on Chinese A-share firms from 2007 to 2019 and a difference-in-differences design, we find that firms subject to the disclosure requirement experienced a significant decline in tax avoidance. We attribute this reduction to enhanced transparency and oversight, which heighten detection risk and increase the costs of aggressive tax planning. Consistent with this mechanism, the deterrent effect is most pronounced among firms with weaker external monitoring. Overall, our findings highlight regulatory disclosure as an effective governance tool, offering practical insights for policymakers seeking to strengthen corporate transparency and reduce tax avoidance.
{"title":"Mandatory industry disclosure and corporate tax avoidance: Evidence from Chinese listed firms","authors":"Limin Zhang , Yu Gu , Ying Yu , Lu Pan","doi":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.12.008","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.12.008","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Corporate tax avoidance undermines public finances and is widely deemed unethical, raising the question of whether greater corporate transparency can mitigate it. We investigate whether a Chinese stock exchange mandate for industry-specific disclosures can serve as an effective policy tool to curb corporate tax avoidance. Using panel data on Chinese A-share firms from 2007 to 2019 and a difference-in-differences design, we find that firms subject to the disclosure requirement experienced a significant decline in tax avoidance. We attribute this reduction to enhanced transparency and oversight, which heighten detection risk and increase the costs of aggressive tax planning. Consistent with this mechanism, the deterrent effect is most pronounced among firms with weaker external monitoring. Overall, our findings highlight regulatory disclosure as an effective governance tool, offering practical insights for policymakers seeking to strengthen corporate transparency and reduce tax avoidance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54200,"journal":{"name":"Economic Analysis and Policy","volume":"89 ","pages":"Pages 228-248"},"PeriodicalIF":8.7,"publicationDate":"2025-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145791467","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-07DOI: 10.1016/j.eap.2025.12.007
Di Wu , Yuxiang Bao , Huizong Wang , Fengbing Zhang
China’s smallholder agriculture boosts output but has led to severe rural ecological degradation, constraining agricultural green total factor productivity (AGTFP). While place-based policies such as the National Modern Agricultural Demonstration Zones (NMADZs) have been introduced to address this challenge, their impact and underlying mechanisms on AGTFP remain insufficiently understood and lack rigorous causal evidence. Using a time-varying difference-in-differences (DID) model on prefecture-level panel data from 2006 to 2020, this study finds that the establishment of NMADZs significantly increased AGTFP by 7.1 %. This improvement is primarily driven by technological progress, large-scale operations, and industrial agglomeration in agriculture. The effects are more pronounced in less-developed and non-major grain-producing regions, highlighting the importance of tailored policy implementation. Moreover, synergistic investments in infrastructure and green finance further amplify the positive impacts of the policy. Overall, the findings underscore the effectiveness of place-based interventions in promoting a green and scale-oriented agricultural transition and emphasize the need for complementary supportive measures to maximize their benefits.
{"title":"The impact of place-based policy on agricultural green total factor productivity: Evidence from China","authors":"Di Wu , Yuxiang Bao , Huizong Wang , Fengbing Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.12.007","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.12.007","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>China’s smallholder agriculture boosts output but has led to severe rural ecological degradation, constraining agricultural green total factor productivity (<em>AGTFP</em>). While place-based policies such as the National Modern Agricultural Demonstration Zones <em>(NMADZs</em>) have been introduced to address this challenge, their impact and underlying mechanisms on AGTFP remain insufficiently understood and lack rigorous causal evidence. Using a time-varying difference-in-differences (<em>DID</em>) model on prefecture-level panel data from 2006 to 2020, this study finds that the establishment of <em>NMADZs</em> significantly increased <em>AGTFP</em> by 7.1 %. This improvement is primarily driven by technological progress, large-scale operations, and industrial agglomeration in agriculture. The effects are more pronounced in less-developed and non-major grain-producing regions, highlighting the importance of tailored policy implementation. Moreover, synergistic investments in infrastructure and green finance further amplify the positive impacts of the policy. Overall, the findings underscore the effectiveness of place-based interventions in promoting a green and scale-oriented agricultural transition and emphasize the need for complementary supportive measures to maximize their benefits.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54200,"journal":{"name":"Economic Analysis and Policy","volume":"89 ","pages":"Pages 287-305"},"PeriodicalIF":8.7,"publicationDate":"2025-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145791461","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-07DOI: 10.1016/j.eap.2025.12.005
Santiago Budría , Carlos Martínez de Ibarreta , Alejandro Betancourt-Odio
Reducing energy poverty is a critical priority for policymakers in both developed and developing nations. Immigrants are often considered a high-risk group due to their heightened vulnerability. While host language proficiency has the potential to mitigate energy poverty among immigrants by enhancing economic integration and facilitating access to essential information and services, its role remains largely unexplored. Using Australian data and addressing endogeneity concerns through a two-stage least-squares (2SLS) approach, this paper provides the first empirical evidence on the causal relationship between host language proficiency and energy poverty among immigrants. The results show that proficiency in the host language reduces the likelihood of experiencing multidimensional energy poverty by approximately 18.8 percentage points. This effect is partly driven by better access to social assistance, higher income and, to a lesser extent, stronger social capital among proficient immigrants. The findings underscore the importance of language skills in shaping energy poverty and highlight the need for language education to reduce economic disparities among immigrant populations.
{"title":"Does host language proficiency among immigrants reduce energy poverty? Evidence from Australia","authors":"Santiago Budría , Carlos Martínez de Ibarreta , Alejandro Betancourt-Odio","doi":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.12.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.eap.2025.12.005","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Reducing energy poverty is a critical priority for policymakers in both developed and developing nations. Immigrants are often considered a high-risk group due to their heightened vulnerability. While host language proficiency has the potential to mitigate energy poverty among immigrants by enhancing economic integration and facilitating access to essential information and services, its role remains largely unexplored. Using Australian data and addressing endogeneity concerns through a two-stage least-squares (2SLS) approach, this paper provides the first empirical evidence on the causal relationship between host language proficiency and energy poverty among immigrants. The results show that proficiency in the host language reduces the likelihood of experiencing multidimensional energy poverty by approximately 18.8 percentage points. This effect is partly driven by better access to social assistance, higher income and, to a lesser extent, stronger social capital among proficient immigrants. The findings underscore the importance of language skills in shaping energy poverty and highlight the need for language education to reduce economic disparities among immigrant populations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54200,"journal":{"name":"Economic Analysis and Policy","volume":"89 ","pages":"Pages 306-327"},"PeriodicalIF":8.7,"publicationDate":"2025-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145791335","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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