Cooling China: The Weather Dependence of Air Conditioner Adoption

Abstract

One of the major adaptation mechanisms to climate change is increased demand for cooling via the air conditioning of indoor environments. China’s demand for air conditioners has displayed explosive growth since 1995. This paper provides estimates of the income and short run weather sensitivity of air conditioner adoption across urban areas for 29 Chinese provincial entities. We show that the adoption decision displays significant income and weather sensitivity in the short run, with adoption being higher the year following a hot summer.

Keywords

climate change / air conditioning / weather

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2014 Higher Education Press and Brill