IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eneeco/v49y2015icp599-609.html

A new approach to measuring the rebound effect associated to energy efficiency improvements: An application to the US residential energy demand

Author

Listed:
  • Orea, Luis
  • Llorca, Manuel
  • Filippini, Massimo

Abstract

This paper brings attention to the fact that the energy demand frontier model introduced by Filippini and Hunt (2011, 2012) is closely connected to the measurement of the so-called rebound effect associated with improvements in energy efficiency. In particular, we show that their model implicitly imposes a zero rebound effect, which contradicts most of the available empirical evidence on this issue. We relax this restrictive assumption through the modelling of a rebound-effect function that mitigates or intensifies the effect of an efficiency improvement on energy consumption. We illustrate our model with an empirical application that aims to estimate a US frontier residential aggregate energy demand function using panel data for 48 states over the period 1995 to 2011. Average values of the rebound effect in the range of 56–80% are found. Therefore, policymakers should be aware that most of the expected energy reduction from efficiency improvements may not be achieved.

Suggested Citation

  • Orea, Luis & Llorca, Manuel & Filippini, Massimo, 2015. "A new approach to measuring the rebound effect associated to energy efficiency improvements: An application to the US residential energy demand," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 599-609.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:49:y:2015:i:c:p:599-609
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2015.03.016
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140988315001085
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eneco.2015.03.016?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. Sterner, Thomas, 2007. "Fuel taxes: An important instrument for climate policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(6), pages 3194-3202, June.
    3. repec:aen:journl:2011v32-02-a03 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Filippini, Massimo & Hunt, Lester C., 2012. "US residential energy demand and energy efficiency: A stochastic demand frontier approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 1484-1491.
    5. 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.
    6. repec:aen:journl:2007v28-01-a02 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. repec:aen:journl:1980v01-04-a02 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Lenzen, Manfred & Dey, Christopher J., 2002. "Economic, energy and greenhouse emissions impacts of some consumer choice, technology and government outlay options," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 377-403, July.
    9. repec:aen:journl:1999v20-03-a01 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Zein-Elabdin, Eiman O., 1997. "Improved stoves in Sub-Saharan Africa: the case of the Sudan," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 465-475, October.
    11. Saunders, Harry D., 2013. "Historical evidence for energy efficiency rebound in 30 US sectors and a toolkit for rebound analysts," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 80(7), pages 1317-1330.
    12. Mundlak, Yair, 1978. "On the Pooling of Time Series and Cross Section Data," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 46(1), pages 69-85, January.
    13. 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.
    14. Sorrell, Steve & Dimitropoulos, John, 2008. "The rebound effect: Microeconomic definitions, limitations and extensions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 636-649, April.
    15. Bentzen, Jan, 2004. "Estimating the rebound effect in US manufacturing energy consumption," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 123-134, January.
    16. Saunders, Harry D., 2008. "Fuel conserving (and using) production functions," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 2184-2235, September.
    17. Roy, Joyashree, 2000. "The rebound effect: some empirical evidence from India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(6-7), pages 433-438, June.
    18. Wang, H. & Zhou, P. & Zhou, D.Q., 2012. "An empirical study of direct rebound effect for passenger transport in urban China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 452-460.
    19. Jondrow, James & Knox Lovell, C. A. & Materov, Ivan S. & Schmidt, Peter, 1982. "On the estimation of technical inefficiency in the stochastic frontier production function model," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 19(2-3), pages 233-238, August.
    20. 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.
    21. repec:aen:eeepjl:1_1_08 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Frondel, Manuel & Ritter, Nolan & Vance, Colin, 2012. "Heterogeneity in the rebound effect: Further evidence for Germany," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 461-467.
    23. Alfredsson, E.C., 2004. "“Green” consumption—no solution for climate change," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 513-524.
    24. Aigner, Dennis & Lovell, C. A. Knox & Schmidt, Peter, 1977. "Formulation and estimation of stochastic frontier production function models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 21-37, July.
    25. repec:aen:journl:1992v13-04-a07 is not listed on IDEAS
    26. Thomas, Brinda A. & Azevedo, Inês L., 2013. "Estimating direct and indirect rebound effects for U.S. households with input–output analysis. Part 2: Simulation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 188-198.
    27. 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.
    28. Mizobuchi, Kenichi, 2008. "An empirical study on the rebound effect considering capital costs," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 2486-2516, September.
    29. Binswanger, Mathias, 2001. "Technological progress and sustainable development: what about the rebound effect?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 119-132, January.
    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. Orea, Luis & Llorca, Manuel & Filippini, Massimo, 2014. "Measuring energy efficiency and rebound effects using a stochastic demand frontier approach: the US residential energy demand," Efficiency Series Papers 2014/01, University of Oviedo, Department of Economics, Oviedo Efficiency Group (OEG).
    2. 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.
    3. Milin Lu & Zhaohua Wang, 2017. "Rebound effects for residential electricity use in urban China: an aggregation analysis based E-I-O and scenario simulation," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 255(1), pages 525-546, August.
    4. Zhang, Yue-Jun & Liu, Zhao & Qin, Chang-Xiong & Tan, Tai-De, 2017. "The direct and indirect CO2 rebound effect for private cars in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 149-161.
    5. Wang, Zhaohua & Han, Bai & Lu, Milin, 2016. "Measurement of energy rebound effect in households: Evidence from residential electricity consumption in Beijing, China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 852-861.
    6. Baležentis, Tomas & Butkus, Mindaugas & Štreimikienė, Dalia & Shen, Zhiyang, 2021. "Exploring the limits for increasing energy efficiency in the residential sector of the European Union: Insights from the rebound effect," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    7. Tufan Özsoy, 2024. "The “energy rebound effect” within the framework of environmental sustainability," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(2), March.
    8. Li, Jianglong & Li, Aijun & Xie, Xuan, 2018. "Rebound effect of transportation considering additional capital costs and input-output relationships: The role of subsistence consumption and unmet demand," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 441-455.
    9. Du, Qiang & Han, Xiao & Li, Yi & Li, Zhe & Xia, Bo & Guo, Xiqian, 2021. "The energy rebound effect of residential buildings: Evidence from urban and rural areas in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    10. Karakaya, Etem & Alataş, Sedat & Erkara, Elif & Mert, Betül & Akdoğan, Tuğba & Hiçyılmaz, Burcu, 2024. "The rebound effect of material and energy efficiency for the EU and its major trading partners," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    11. Wang, H. & Zhou, P. & Zhou, D.Q., 2012. "An empirical study of direct rebound effect for passenger transport in urban China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 452-460.
    12. Lin, Boqiang & Yang, Fang & Liu, Xia, 2013. "A study of the rebound effect on China's current energy conservation and emissions reduction: Measures and policy choices," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 330-339.
    13. Yang, Lisha & Li, Zhi, 2017. "Technology advance and the carbon dioxide emission in China – Empirical research based on the rebound effect," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 150-161.
    14. Figge, Frank & Thorpe, Andrea Stevenson, 2019. "The symbiotic rebound effect in the circular economy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 61-69.
    15. Li, Ke & Jiang, Zhujun, 2016. "The impacts of removing energy subsidies on economy-wide rebound effects in China: An input-output analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 62-72.
    16. Matthew E. Oliver & Juan Moreno-Cruz & Ross C. Beppler, 2019. "Microeconomics of the rebound effect for residential solar photovoltaic systems," CESifo Working Paper Series 7635, CESifo.
    17. Li, Ke & Lin, Boqiang, 2015. "Heterogeneity in rebound effects: Estimated results and impact of China’s fossil-fuel subsidies," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 148-160.
    18. Lin, Boqiang & Liu, Xia, 2013. "Reform of refined oil product pricing mechanism and energy rebound effect for passenger transportation in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 329-337.
    19. Lin, Boqiang & Zhu, Runqing, 2022. "How does market-oriented reform influence the rebound effect of China’s mining industry?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 34-44.
    20. Toroghi, Shahaboddin H. & Oliver, Matthew E., 2019. "Framework for estimation of the direct rebound effect for residential photovoltaic systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 251(C), pages 1-1.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • C5 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling
    • Q4 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy
    • Q5 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics

    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:49:y:2015:i:c:p:599-609. 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.