Does the belt and road initiative alleviate energy poverty in participating countries?

Abstract

This study employs a difference-in-difference approach to examine the effects of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) on energy poverty in 114 countries from 2005 to 2016. We use the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression to filter control variables so as to increase interpretability. We find that BRI has alleviated energy poverty, with multi-dimensional energy poverty index decreasing by 1.75% to 2.30%. BRI plays a more significant role in alleviating energy poverty in Maritime Silk Road (MSR) countries than in Land Silk Road (LSR) countries. BRI alleviates energy poverty in energy-rich and energy-poor countries. We also find that BRI and high national income have significantly alleviating effects on energy poverty across BRI countries by a triple difference analysis. We further find that facility construction and industry development alleviate more energy poverty in MSR countries than in LSR countries. Industry development improves energy production and supply for energy-rich countries and energy infrastructure ensures energy availability for energy-poor countries. Technology cooperation and humanitarian aid alleviate energy poverty in MSR countries, LSR countries, energy-rich countries and energy-poor countries, while financial support is statistically insignificant for the four groups of countries. BRI contributes to tackling global challenges and achieving the United Nation 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.