Fuel choices for cooking and heating and gender empowerment: Implications for promoting gender equality and sustainable rural development
利用中国农村家庭调查数据，研究炊事和取暖燃料选择对男性和女性决策权的影响，发现完全能源转型（从非清洁燃料转向清洁燃料）比不完全转型更能缩小性别决策权差距，促进性别平等和农村可持续发展。
This study evaluates the impact of fuel choices for cooking and heating on gender empowerment using rural household survey data from China. We investigate rural households' fuel-stacking behaviors by classifying fuels into non-clean, clean, and mixed categories and distinguish an incomplete energy transition (i.e. switching from non-clean fuels to mixed fuels) from a complete energy transition (i.e. switching from non-clean to clean fuels). The decision-making power of men and women measures gender empowerment. We use the multinomial endogenous switching regression model to address the endogeneity issue associated with rural households' fuel choices. The results show that incomplete and complete energy transitions for heating significantly increase men's decision-making power, while the same transitions for cooking have no significant impact. Incomplete and complete energy transitions for cooking significantly empower rural women, while a complete energy transition for heating also significantly empowers women. These findings suggest that promoting a complete energy transition supports broader rural development by empowering women to participate more actively in household decision-making. We also find that a complete energy transition for cooking and heating reduces the decision-making power gap between men and women more than an incomplete one, highlighting that a complete energy transition contributes more to gender equality. Therefore, fostering complete energy transitions is essential for closing gender disparities and establishing a foundation for sustainable rural development through enhanced female empowerment. • This study evaluates the impact of fuel choices for cooking and heating on gender empowerment; • We distinguish an incomplete energy transition from a complete energy transition; • The decision-making power of men and women measures gender empowerment; • Incomplete and complete energy transitions for heating significantly increase men's decision-making power; • Incomplete and complete energy transitions for cooking significantly empower rural women.