Barriers to Energy Efficiency Improvement: Empirical Evidence from Small- and Medium Sized Enterprises in China

This paper analyzes barriers for energy efficiency investments in China based on a survey of 480 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Zhejiang province. More than 40% of enterprises in the sample indicated that they were unaware of energy saving equipments or practices in their business areas, suggesting high transaction costs for SMEs to gather, assess, and apply information about energy saving potentials and relevant technologies. Information dissemination may be an area for government focus.