Search

The main contradictions in Chinese society have changed as China enters a new era, and the people's pursuit of the better life has become more intense. This study explores how energy poverty can be addressed from a digital perspective in the context of the booming digital economy. This study analyzed the impact of mobile phone use on energy poverty by constructing an OLS model using micro data from Tibetan farming and pastoral areas. We also conduct tests for endogeneity, robustness, heterogeneity, and influence mechanisms. The results indicate that mobile phone use has a significant negative impact on energy poverty, and the results remain robust after instrumental-variable regression. In terms of economic utility, mobile phone use reduces energy poverty by increasing household consumption or off-farm income. In terms of social utility, mobile phone use can also alleviate energy poverty by raising social capital. Heterogeneity analysis shows that mobile phone use contributes to energy poverty alleviation in a way that benefits the poor and the less educated. The authors investigate the impact of mobile phone use on Energy Poverty, a topic that has previously been little addressed in academia. The findings of this paper enrich the literature on the digital technology and energy poverty and provide a new perspective for alleviating energy poverty in rural areas and improving farmers' well-being. Finally, this paper offers some policy recommendations. • The use of mobile phones by farmers and herdsmen can alleviate energy poverty. • mobile phone use contributes to energy poverty alleviation in ways that benefit the poor and the less educated. • The social and economic utility brought by the use of mobile phones can help farmers and herdsmen alleviate energy poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the use of a popular Chinese formulation, yifang shuitu yanghuo buliao yifangren ('the soil and water of a place cannot support the local people'), in China's poverty-alleviation resettlement by focusing on the case of the Tibet Autonomous Region. The official narrative that the formulation points to is that the native land of Tibetans living in 'harsh' environments can no longer support them and cannot enable them to escape from 'poverty'; they thus need to be resettled. The article shows that, while the degree to which the formulation holds true is debatable even from a government perspective, local officials find the authority embedded in the formulation, originating as it has from the central government, useful as a means of persuasion in getting Tibetans to agree to resettle and thus facilitating policy implementation on the ground. This finding echoes earlier research on the usefulness of political language for authorities in China at different levels of the administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]