The Impact of Financial Development on Energy Demand: Evidence from China

An autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds approach and vector error correction model (VECM) are used here to better understand the role of financial development in energy demand in China. Based on data from 1980 to 2014, the ARDL bounds approach yields empirical evidence that confirms the existence of long-run relationships among energy demand per capita, gross domestic product per capita, urbanization, economic structure, and financial development. The VECM framework shows the direction of Granger causality that combines the short run and the long run between the variables. The results suggest a feedback effect between financial development and energy demand per capita in the long run. However, financial development Granger causes per capita energy demand without a feedback effect in the short run. The results of this research may be of great importance for decision makers as they develop policies on energy and economic growth.