Die Rolle der indirekten Energiekosten im deutschen Produzierenden Gewerbe

Real unit energy costs allow us to monitor the burden of energy costs on firms and to assess the competitiveness of industrial sectors. However, the indicator disregards “indirect” energy costs, which are embodied in non energy-related intermediate inputs for the production of goods and services. Total real unit energy costs also take into account these indirect energy costs, which play an increasingly important role over time. In fact, they are greater than the direct energy costs in the main sectors of German manufacturing. Therefore, rising energy prices are not only relevant to energy-intensive firms but also to firms that seem to be unaffected by high energy costs directly. Energy policy should take into account both cost categories, even though indirect energy costs are more difficult to assess and less controllable than direct energy costs. Copyright ZBW and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015