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The empirical conclusions regarding the relationship between energy price and energy efficiency are relatively mixed. This paper systematically examines the influence of energy price on energy efficiency in China based on data from 30 provinces between 2003 and 2017, using linear and nonlinear effect analysis. We found that the impact of energy price on energy efficiency in China was positive in general. However, there existed heterogeneous effects of energy price on energy efficiency in various regions, and the effect differed with differences in energy efficiency levels based on the panel quantile regression analysis. Finally, the nonlinear effect analysis based on the panel threshold model indicated that the effect of energy price on energy efficiency increased with the rise of the environmental regulation level and economic growth rate, while it decreased with the ascent of the degree of energy price distortion and economic development level. In particular, when the value of a region's economic development level and economic growth rate was within a certain range, the impact was not statistically significant. Overall, these findings contribute to a deeper understanding regarding the effect of energy price on energy efficiency in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the relationship between energy consumption and economic growth is examined from the viewpoint of China's industrial sectors. Panel data from 37 industrial sectors in China covering the period from 1998 to 2010 was used in this study. Not only first generation panel unit root tests and panel cointegration tests, but also second generation tests that account for dependence between cross-sectional units were employed. The empirical results reveal that both energy consumption and economic growth are integrated as order one, and they are cointegrated. Panel fully modified ordinary least squares estimators show that a 1% increase in energy consumption increases the real value added of industrial sectors by 0.871%, and a 1% increase in real value added of industrial sectors increases energy consumption by 1.103%. The panel vector error correction models for causality tests are estimated by a system generalized moment method. We find a unidirectional causal relation running from economic growth to energy consumption in the shortrun. In the long run, however, there is evidence of a unidirectional causality running from energy consumption to economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]