Does human capital matter for energy consumption in China?

This article investigates the dynamic relationship between human capital and energy consumption using Chinese provincial data over the period 1990–2010. Considering for cross-sectional dependence and parameter heterogeneity across space and over time, we identify a significant and negative human capital–energy consumption relationship in China. Specifically, we find that a 1% increase in human capital reduces energy consumption by a range between 0.18% and 0.45%. Furthermore, this negative relationship can be attributed to stronger accumulation of post-school human capital in eastern China. This finding suggests that energy conservation in China could be achieved by improving post-school human-capital components such as on-the-job training, experience and learning-by-doing. © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.