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Ray of Hope? China and the Rise of Solar Energy -- by Ignacio Banares-Sanchez, Robin Burgess, Dávid László, Pol Simpson, John Van Reenen, Yifan Wang
A new academic study examines the impact of Chinese solar energy subsidies implemented across city-regions between 2004 and 2020, finding that production and innovation subsidies were more effective than demand-side installation subsidies in driving local innovation, firm entry, production, and exports. The research constructs new city and firm panel data and applies synthetic-difference-in-differences methodology alongside a quantitative spatial model. Counterfactual analysis indicates that loc