Does financial market participation eradicate household energy poverty?

Abstract

Energy poverty eradication is essential for achieving sustainable development goals; however, household financial participation behavior in eliminating energy poverty has not been received much attention. In this study, the impact of financial market participation on household energy poverty was investigated by applying the multidimensional energy poverty index measured by the entropy method and using data from the 2015 Chinese General Social Survey. The results showed that financial market participation significantly reduced household energy poverty. Meanwhile, future expectation was an important mediating mechanism in this process. Moreover, the increase in financial risk reduced the effect of future expectation on household energy poverty because higher financial risk weakened household financial stability. The findings offered a new perspective on eradicating household energy poverty by promoting financial market participation.