IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eneeco/v30y2008i5p2184-2235.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Fuel conserving (and using) production functions

Author

Listed:
  • Saunders, Harry D.

Abstract

This article compares eight production/cost functions used or potentially useful for exploring how energy efficiency gains affect energy consumption. We show the practitioner's choice of function can inadvertently pre-determine results, and make recommendations as to which functions are flexible enough to prevent this. We also show pre-selected factor substitution elasticities can similarly pre-determine results. To aid the comparison we decompose the energy consumption "rebound" effect into intensity and output/income effects, which also delivers insight into the mechanisms of rebound. We conclude by recommending practitioners restrict themselves to either the Gallant (Fourier) or the Generalized Leontief/Symmetric Generalized Barnett cost functions as being sufficiently "rebound flexible." The Translog cost function may be suitable given certain conditions and a particular form of the CES (Solow) function is a possible, but problematic, candidate. Along the way, the article provides a general methodology for similarly examining any arbitrarily-defined constant returns to scale production or cost function.

Suggested Citation

  • Saunders, Harry D., 2008. "Fuel conserving (and using) production functions," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 2184-2235, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:30:y:2008:i:5:p:2184-2235
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140-9883(07)00145-4
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brookes, Len, 1990. "The greenhouse effect: the fallacies in the energy efficiency solution," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 199-201, March.
    2. Robert M. Solow, 1956. "A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 70(1), pages 65-94.
    3. N/A, 2006. "The UK Economy," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 196(1), pages 40-59, April.
    4. Saunders, Harry D., 2000. "A view from the macro side: rebound, backfire, and Khazzoom-Brookes," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(6-7), pages 439-449, June.
    5. Hanley, Nick D. & McGregor, Peter G. & Swales, J. Kim & Turner, Karen, 2006. "The impact of a stimulus to energy efficiency on the economy and the environment: A regional computable general equilibrium analysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 161-171.
    6. Diewert, Walter E & Wales, Terence J, 1987. "Flexible Functional Forms and Global Curvature Conditions," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 55(1), pages 43-68, January.
    7. Ayres, Robert U. & Warr, Benjamin, 2005. "Accounting for growth: the role of physical work," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 181-209, June.
    8. A. Greening, Lorna & Greene, David L. & Difiglio, Carmen, 2000. "Energy efficiency and consumption -- the rebound effect -- a survey," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(6-7), pages 389-401, June.
    9. Saunders Harry D, 2005. "A Calculator for Energy Consumption Changes Arising from New Technologies," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 5(1), pages 1-35, September.
    10. Thompson, Henry, 2006. "The applied theory of energy substitution in production," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 410-425, July.
    11. Glomsrod, Solveig & Taoyuan, Wei, 2005. "Coal cleaning: a viable strategy for reduced carbon emissions and improved environment in China?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 525-542, March.
    12. Appelbaum, Elie, 1978. "Testing neoclassical production theory," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 87-102, February.
    13. Grubb, M. J., 1990. "Communication Energy efficiency and economic fallacies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 18(8), pages 783-785, October.
    14. Grubb, Michael, 1992. "Reply to Brookes," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(5), pages 392-393, May.
    15. David L. Greene, 1992. "Vehicle Use and Fuel Economy: How Big is the "Rebound" Effect?," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1), pages 117-144.
    16. Grepperud, Sverre & Rasmussen, Ingeborg, 2004. "A general equilibrium assessment of rebound effects," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 261-282, March.
    17. Roy, Joyashree & Sanstad, Alan H. & Sathaye, Jayant A. & Khaddaria, Raman, 2006. "Substitution and price elasticity estimates using inter-country pooled data in a translog cost model," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(5-6), pages 706-719, November.
    18. Ryan, David L. & Wales, Terence J., 2000. "Imposing local concavity in the translog and generalized Leontief cost functions," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 253-260, June.
    19. Dufournaud, Christian M. & Quinn, John T. & Harrington, Joseph J., 1994. "An Applied General Equilibrium (AGE) analysis of a policy designed to reduce the household consumption of wood in the Sudan," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 67-90, March.
    20. L.G. Brookes, 1990. "Energy Efficiency and The Greenhouse Effect," Energy & Environment, , vol. 1(4), pages 318-333, December.
    21. J. Daniel Khazzoom, 1987. "Energy Saving Resulting from the Adoption of More Efficient Appliances," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4), pages 85-89.
    22. Schipper, Lee & Meyers, Steve & Ketoff, Andrea N., 1986. "Energy use in the service sector : An international perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 201-218, June.
    23. Gallant, A. Ronald, 1981. "On the bias in flexible functional forms and an essentially unbiased form : The fourier flexible form," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 211-245, February.
    24. Brannlund, Runar & Ghalwash, Tarek & Nordstrom, Jonas, 2007. "Increased energy efficiency and the rebound effect: Effects on consumption and emissions," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 1-17, January.
    25. Revankar, Nagesh S, 1971. "A Class of Variable Elasticity of Substitution Production Functions," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 39(1), pages 61-71, January.
    26. Sam H. Schurr, 1982. "Energy Efficiency and Productive Efficiency: Some Thoughts Based on American Experience," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3), pages 3-14.
    27. McFadden, Daniel, 1978. "The General Linear Profit Function," Histoy of Economic Thought Chapters, in: Fuss, Melvyn & McFadden, Daniel (ed.),Production Economics: A Dual Approach to Theory and Applications, volume 1, chapter 5, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought.
    28. Brookes, Leonard, 2000. "Energy efficiency fallacies revisited," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(6-7), pages 355-366, June.
    29. Schipper, Lee & Grubb, Michael, 2000. "On the rebound? Feedback between energy intensities and energy uses in IEA countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(6-7), pages 367-388, June.
    30. Alan S. Manne & Richard G. Richels, 1990. "CO2 Emission Limits: An Economic Cost Analysis for the USA," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2), pages 51-74.
    31. Saunders, Harry D., 2000. "Does predicted rebound depend on distinguishing between energy and energy services?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(6-7), pages 497-500, June.
    32. J. Daniel Khazzoom, 1980. "Economic Implications of Mandated Efficiency in Standards for Household Appliances," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4), pages 21-40.
    33. Richard B. Howarth, 1997. "Energy Efficiency And Economic Growth," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 15(4), pages 1-9, October.
    34. J. Daniel Khazzoom, 1989. "Energy Savings from More Efficient Appliances: A Rejoinder," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1), pages 157-166.
    35. Koetse, Mark J. & de Groot, Henri L.F. & Florax, Raymond J.G.M., 2008. "Capital-energy substitution and shifts in factor demand: A meta-analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 2236-2251, September.
    36. Gallant, A. Ronald, 1982. "Unbiased determination of production technologies," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 285-323, November.
    37. Brookes, L. G., 1992. "Energy efficiency and economic fallacies: a reply," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(5), pages 390-392, May.
    38. Diewert, W E, 1971. "An Application of the Shephard Duality Theorem: A Generalized Leontief Production Function," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 79(3), pages 481-507, May-June.
    39. Hirofumi Uzawa, 1962. "Production Functions with Constant Elasticities of Substitution," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 29(4), pages 291-299.
    40. Berkhout, Peter H. G. & Muskens, Jos C. & W. Velthuijsen, Jan, 2000. "Defining the rebound effect," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(6-7), pages 425-432, June.
    41. William W. Hogan & Dale W. Jorgenson, 1991. "Productivity Trends and the Cost of Reducing CO2 Emissions," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1), pages 67-86.
    42. Alan S. Mann & Richard G. Richels, 1990. "The Costs of Reducing U.S. CO2 Emissions - Further Sensitivity Analyses," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4), pages 69-78.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Saunders, Harry D., 2014. "Toward a neoclassical theory of sustainable consumption: Eight golden age propositions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 220-232.
    2. Sorrell, Steve, 2009. "Jevons' Paradox revisited: The evidence for backfire from improved energy efficiency," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 1456-1469, April.
    3. Alcott, Blake, 2005. "Jevons' paradox," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 9-21, July.
    4. Michael Huesemann & Joyce Huesemann, 2008. "Will progress in science and technology avert or accelerate global collapse? A critical analysis and policy recommendations," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 10(6), pages 787-825, December.
    5. Alcott, Blake, 2008. "The sufficiency strategy: Would rich-world frugality lower environmental impact," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(4), pages 770-786, February.
    6. David I. Stern, 2010. "The Role of Energy in Economic Growth," CCEP Working Papers 0310, Centre for Climate & Energy Policy, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.
    7. Madlener, R. & Alcott, B., 2009. "Energy rebound and economic growth: A review of the main issues and research needs," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 370-376.
    8. Figge, Frank & Thorpe, Andrea Stevenson, 2019. "The symbiotic rebound effect in the circular economy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 61-69.
    9. David Font Vivanco & Jaume Freire‐González & Ray Galvin & Tilman Santarius & Hans Jakob Walnum & Tamar Makov & Serenella Sala, 2022. "Rebound effect and sustainability science: A review," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(4), pages 1543-1563, August.
    10. Dimitropoulos, John, 2007. "Energy productivity improvements and the rebound effect: An overview of the state of knowledge," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(12), pages 6354-6363, December.
    11. Lecca, Patrizio & Swales, Kim & Turner, Karen, 2011. "Rebound Effects from Increased Efficiency in the Use of Energy by UK Households," SIRE Discussion Papers 2011-34, Scottish Institute for Research in Economics (SIRE).
    12. Tugba Somuncu & Christopher Hannum, 2018. "The Rebound Effect of Energy Efficiency Policy in the Presence of Energy Theft," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-28, December.
    13. Matos, Fernando J.F. & Silva, Francisco J.F., 2011. "The rebound effect on road freight transport: Empirical evidence from Portugal," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 2833-2841, May.
    14. Turner, Karen, 2009. "Negative rebound and disinvestment effects in response to an improvement in energy efficiency in the UK economy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 648-666, September.
    15. Thomas, Brinda A. & Azevedo, Inês L., 2013. "Estimating direct and indirect rebound effects for U.S. households with input–output analysis Part 1: Theoretical framework," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 199-210.
    16. Herring, Horace, 1999. "Does energy efficiency save energy? The debate and its consequences," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 63(3), pages 209-226, July.
    17. Ghoddusi, Hamed & Roy, Mandira, 2017. "Supply elasticity matters for the rebound effect and its impact on policy comparisons," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 111-120.
    18. Jeffrey B. Dahmus, 2014. "Can Efficiency Improvements Reduce Resource Consumption?," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 18(6), pages 883-897, December.
    19. Schipper, Lee & Grubb, Michael, 2000. "On the rebound? Feedback between energy intensities and energy uses in IEA countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(6-7), pages 367-388, June.
    20. Zhang, Jiangshan & Lin Lawell, C.-Y. Cynthia, 2017. "The macroeconomic rebound effect in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 202-212.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:30:y:2008:i:5:p:2184-2235. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/eneco .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.