Perception of Economic Policy Uncertainty and Energy Consumption Intensity: Evidence from Construction Companies

Using 2010–2019 data from 404 listed construction companies in China, we explore the relationship between perception of economic policy uncertainty (PEPU) and energy consumption intensity (ECI) based on a fixed effects model controlling for company, year, and city fixed effects, with standard errors clustered at the industry level. The results show that the perception of economic policy uncertainty reduces construction enterprise energy consumption intensity, and this result holds after a series of robustness and endogeneity tests. Further, this effect is stronger in firms with more green shareholders, environmental information disclosure, and external attention. Moreover, mechanism analysis indicates that internal control enhancement and green innovation improvement, including quantity and quality, are the underlying channels through which the perception of economic policy uncertainty influences energy consumption intensity.