Description:
Energy poverty is a social problem more complex than an economic problem and exists in both developed and developing countries. Beginning with the measurement of the sustainable energy development index and regional social capital at a macroscale, the multidimensional energy poverty index and household social capital at a microscale, this study investigates the impact of social capital on energy poverty, a topic hitherto neglected in the literature. Both the macro and micro empirical analyses show that social capital has a positive impact on reducing energy poverty and serves as a complementary tool for economic development to reduce energy poverty. The capital deficit and return deficit of social capital were found to coexist in households with higher levels of energy poverty, implying that its effect on reducing energy poverty is more advantageous to the “rich” rather than those with deeper energy poverty. The results of the empirical study are robust to subsample regressions and various measures of energy poverty. Social capital helps to break the bottlenecks in energy requirements that may emerge with income growth, and its development has significant implications for tackling energy poverty