The Chinese Consumers' Attitudes towards their 'Willingness to Pay' for Renewable Electricity

An Analysis of Economic and Environmental Factors

Master's Thesis , 2016 , 54 Pages , Grade: 2,0

Orientalism / Sinology - Chinese / China

China’s economic development has not only led to enormous growth figures, but also to a severe degradation of the environment. Mass-consumption of fossil fuels like oil and coal in China contributed to reaching the level of the largest greenhouse gas emitter worldwide. For the Chinese government to react, it is crucial to take the electricity purchase decisions of households into account to successfully implement energy policies. Hereby, a Chinese social survey shall help to show the effects of economic and environmental factors on the consumers’ willingness to pay for the adoption of green electricity: the results of both a Linear Probability Model and a Probit model indicate that environmental factors do not play a crucial role when it comes to the consumers’ willingness to pay for higher prices/taxes in order to protect the environment – whereas the economic factor regarding the influence of price levels has a slightly more effective impact. Nonetheless, education and adequate information provision about the merits of green electricity seem to be a prerequisite in order to promote the purchase of renewable electricity.

Table of contents

List of abbreviations

List of figures and tables

1. Introduction

2. Previous Research
2.1 Overview of China’s energy situation
2.2 Government policies
2.2.1 The renewable energy policy in China
2.2.2 The Green Electricity Scheme in Shanghai
2.3 Evidence from other countries
2.4 Development of factors influencing WTP
2.4.1 Income of Chinese residents
2.4.2 The price of electricity
2.4.3 Government support policies
2.4.4 Environmental conditions

3. Hypotheses

4. Methodology
4.1 Methodology
4.2 Data description
4.3 The econometric model
4.3.1 Dependent variables
4.3.2 Independent variables
4.3.3 Control variables
4.3.4 Descriptive statistics

5. Model testing

6. Results

7. Robustness check

8. Discussion

9. Conclusion

10. References

Appendix

• Grade: 2,0
• Author: Anneke Bösche (Author)
• Publication Year: 2016
• Pages: 54
• Catalog Number: V335148
• ISBN (eBook): 9783668251663
• ISBN (Book): 9783668251670
• Language: English
• Tags: chinese, consumers, attitudes, willingness, renewable, electricity, analysis, economic, environmental, factors