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Does access to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) reduce the household burden of women? Evidence from India

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  • Su, Qinghe
  • Azam, Mehtabul

Abstract

Using the nationally representative Indian Time Use Survey, we study whether the use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as cooking fuel affects the time spent in cooking and employment activities for Indian rural women. We instrument the use of LPG by a leave-one-out spatial instrument constructed by taking the average level of LPG use in the village where the average is calculated leaving the concerned household. We find no impact of LPG on the probability of women participating in cooking activities. However, the use of LPG reduces (increases) time spent in cooking (employment) activities. We also find evidence of rebound effect where the use of LPG leads to marginally more cooking events in a day. We find that LPG’s impact on time spent in cooking and employment is mostly driven by married women.

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  • Su, Qinghe & Azam, Mehtabul, 2023. "Does access to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) reduce the household burden of women? Evidence from India," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:119:y:2023:i:c:s0140988323000270
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2023.106529
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    8. YuJung Julia Lee & Zakir Husain & Mousumi Dutta, 2024. "Does improved cooking fuel empower women? Evidence from India," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(1), pages 574-587, February.
    9. Asharaf, Nabeel & Tol, Richard S.J., 2024. "The impact of Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana on Indian households," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 878-897.
    10. Maona Mukanema & Douglas Chiguvi & Isaac N. Simate, 2025. "Socioeconomic Determinants of Household Cooking Energy Choices in Mtendere Lusaka, Zambia," International Journal of Economic Policy, CARI Journals Limited, vol. 5(6), pages 35-51.
    11. Guta, Dawit & Zerriffi, Hisham & Baumgartner, Jill & Jain, Abhishek & Mani, Sunil & Jack, Darby & Carter, Ellison & Shen, Guofeng & Orgill-Meyer, Jennifer & Rosenthal, Joshua & Dickinson, Katherine & , 2024. "The impact of LPG consumption on cooking energy efficiency: Evidence from rural Indian household panel data," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 36(C).
    12. Bharti Nandwani & Manisha Jain, 2024. "Access to clean cooking fuel and women outcomes," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2024-017, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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