IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v144y2020ics0301421520303232.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Welfare impacts of transport fuel price changes on Indian households: An application of LA-AIDS model

Author

Listed:
  • Bhuvandas, Dhanyashree
  • Gundimeda, Haripriya

Abstract

This paper analyzes the direct impact of transport fuel price change on household welfare in India using a cross-sectional household consumption expenditure survey data. The results show that transport fuel is price elastic in both urban and rural areas across income groups, implying that the subsidy reform undertaken by the Government of India is an effective means to reduce the residential transport energy consumption. However, the relative welfare values show that lower- and middle-income groups remain more vulnerable to transport fuel price changes, thus, suggesting a regressive effect. Since households do not have an affordable substitution option for transport fuels like petrol and diesel, decarbonizing transport sector needs investing in alternate fuels, technology and infrastructure. However, for sustainability and inclusion to go hand-in-hand, mere switching to alternate or cleaner fuel sources is not sufficient. It is imperative to encourage the use of public transport in India, considering the increasing transport demand due to the rising middle-income population and rapid urbanization. Along with it, the policy makers could consider offsetting the subsidy removal by a targeted compensation scheme which will not just ensure making the transition more inclusive, but also serve as a long term sustainable development strategy.

Suggested Citation

  • Bhuvandas, Dhanyashree & Gundimeda, Haripriya, 2020. "Welfare impacts of transport fuel price changes on Indian households: An application of LA-AIDS model," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:144:y:2020:i:c:s0301421520303232
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2020.111583
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421520303232
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2020.111583?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 search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Huntington, Hillard G. & Barrios, James J. & Arora, Vipin, 2019. "Review of key international demand elasticities for major industrializing economies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    2. Irfan, Muhammad & Cameron, Michael P. & Hassan, Gazi, 2018. "Household energy elasticities and policy implications for Pakistan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 633-642.
    3. James J. Heckman, 1977. "Sample Selection Bias As a Specification Error (with an Application to the Estimation of Labor Supply Functions)," NBER Working Papers 0172, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Lin, Boqiang & Jiang, Zhujun, 2011. "Estimates of energy subsidies in China and impact of energy subsidy reform," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 273-283, March.
    5. Michael Jakob & Claudine Chen & Sabine Fuss & Annika Marxen & Ottmar Edenhofer, 2015. "Development incentives for fossil fuel subsidy reform," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 5(8), pages 709-712, August.
    6. Li, Yingzhu & Shi, Xunpeng & Su, Bin, 2017. "Economic, social and environmental impacts of fuel subsidies: A revisit of Malaysia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 51-61.
    7. Feng, Kuishuang & Hubacek, Klaus & Liu, Yu & Marchán, Estefanía & Vogt-Schilb, Adrien, 2018. "Managing the distributional effects of energy taxes and subsidy removal in Latin America and the Caribbean," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C), pages 424-436.
    8. Dennis, Allen, 2016. "Household welfare implications of fossil fuel subsidy reforms in developing countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 597-606.
    9. Kumar, Praduman & Kumar, Anjani & Parappurathu, Shinoj & Raju, S.S., 2011. "Estimation of Demand Elasticity for Food Commodities in India," Agricultural Economics Research Review, Agricultural Economics Research Association (India), vol. 24(1), June.
    10. Renner, Sebastian & Lay, Jann & Schleicher, Michael, 2019. "The effects of energy price changes: heterogeneous welfare impacts and energy poverty in Indonesia," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 24(2), pages 180-200, April.
    11. Adusei Jumah & Adewale O. Dipeolu & Idris A. Ayinde & Kolawole Adebayo, 2008. "An la-aids analysis of cassava food products demand in Lagos," Journal of Developing Areas, Tennessee State University, College of Business, vol. 41(2), pages 109-117, January-M.
    12. Pachauri, Shonali, 2004. "An analysis of cross-sectional variations in total household energy requirements in India using micro survey data," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(15), pages 1723-1735, October.
    13. Mdafri, Abdellah & Wade Brorsen, B., 1993. "Demand for red meat, poultry, and fish in Morocco: an almost ideal demand system," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 9(2), pages 155-163, August.
    14. Ngui, Dianah & Mutua, John & Osiolo, Hellen & Aligula, Eric, 2011. "Household energy demand in Kenya: An application of the linear approximate almost ideal demand system (LA-AIDS)," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(11), pages 7084-7094.
    15. Kumar, Praduman & Dey, Madan Mohan & Paraguas, Ferdinand J., 2005. "Demand for Fish by Species in India: Three-stage Budgeting Framework," Agricultural Economics Research Review, Agricultural Economics Research Association (India), vol. 18(2), July.
    16. Farsi, Mehdi & Filippini, Massimo & Pachauri, Shonali, 2007. "Fuel choices in urban Indian households," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(6), pages 757-774, December.
    17. John Cockburn & Véronique Robichaud & Luca Tiberti, 2018. "Energy Subsidy Reform and Poverty in Arab Countries: A Comparative CGE‐Microsimulation Analysis of Egypt and Jordan," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 64(s1), pages 249-273, October.
    18. Schaffitzel, Filip & Jakob, Michael & Soria, Rafael & Vogt-Schilb, Adrien & Ward, Hauke, 2020. "Can government transfers make energy subsidy reform socially acceptable? A case study on Ecuador," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    19. Breisinger, Clemens & Mukashov, Askar & Raouf, Mariam & Wiebelt, Manfred, 2019. "Energy subsidy reform for growth and equity in Egypt: The approach matters," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 661-671.
    20. Moshiri, Saeed & Martinez Santillan, Miguel Alfonso, 2018. "The welfare effects of energy price changes due to energy market reform in Mexico," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 663-672.
    21. Jun Rentschler & Morgan Bazilian, 2017. "Reforming fossil fuel subsidies: drivers, barriers and the state of progress," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(7), pages 891-914, October.
    22. Bhattacharyya, Subhes C., 2015. "Influence of India’s transformation on residential energy demand," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 228-237.
    23. Pollak, Robert A & Wales, Terence J, 1981. "Demographic Variables in Demand Analysis," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 49(6), pages 1533-1551, November.
    24. Arze del Granado, Francisco Javier & Coady, David & Gillingham, Robert, 2012. "The Unequal Benefits of Fuel Subsidies: A Review of Evidence for Developing Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(11), pages 2234-2248.
    25. David Klenert & Linus Mattauch & Emmanuel Combet & Ottmar Edenhofer & Cameron Hepburn & Ryan Rafaty & Nicholas Stern, 2018. "Making carbon pricing work for citizens," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 8(8), pages 669-677, August.
    26. Acharya, Rajesh H. & Sadath, Anver C., 2017. "Implications of energy subsidy reform in India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 453-462.
    27. Surabhi Mittal, 2010. "Application of the Quaids Model to the Food Sector in India," Journal of Quantitative Economics, The Indian Econometric Society, vol. 8(1), pages 42-54, January.
    28. Sterner, Thomas, 2012. "Distributional effects of taxing transport fuel," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 75-83.
    29. Moshiri, Saeed, 2020. "Consumer responses to gasoline price and non-price policies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    30. Xavier Jara & Po Chun Lee & Lourdes Montesdeoca & Marcelo Varela, 2018. "Fuel subsidies and income redistribution in Ecuador," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2018-144, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    31. Sun, Chuanwang & Ouyang, Xiaoling, 2016. "Price and expenditure elasticities of residential energy demand during urbanization: An empirical analysis based on the household-level survey data in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 56-63.
    32. Heien, Dale & Wessells, Cathy Roheim, 1990. "Demand Systems Estimation with Microdata: A Censored Regression Approach," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 8(3), pages 365-371, July.
    33. Rahul Anand & Mr. David Coady & Mr. Adil Mohommad & Mr. Vimal V Thakoor & Mr. James P Walsh, 2013. "The Fiscal and Welfare Impacts of Reforming Fuel Subsidies in India," IMF Working Papers 2013/128, International Monetary Fund.
    34. Masera, Omar R. & Saatkamp, Barbara D. & Kammen, Daniel M., 2000. "From Linear Fuel Switching to Multiple Cooking Strategies: A Critique and Alternative to the Energy Ladder Model," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(12), pages 2083-2103, December.
    35. Abiodun Elijah Obayelu & V.O. Okoruwa & O.I.Y. Ajani, 2009. "Cross‐sectional analysis of food demand in the North Central, Nigeria," China Agricultural Economic Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 1(2), pages 173-193, January.
    36. Mr. David Coady & Valentina Flamini & Louis Sears, 2015. "The Unequal Benefits of Fuel Subsidies Revisited: Evidence for Developing Countries," IMF Working Papers 2015/250, International Monetary Fund.
    37. Gangopadhyay, Shubhashis & Ramaswami, Bharat & Wadhwa, Wilima, 2005. "Reducing subsidies on household fuels in India: how will it affect the poor?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(18), pages 2326-2336, December.
    38. Baichen Jiang & John Davis, 2007. "Household food demand in rural China," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(3), pages 373-380.
    39. Gundimeda, Haripriya & Kohlin, Gunnar, 2008. "Fuel demand elasticities for energy and environmental policies: Indian sample survey evidence," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 517-546, March.
    40. Houcine Boughanmi & Muhammad Aamir Khan, 2019. "Welfare and Distributional Effects of the Energy Subsidy Reform in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries: The Case of Sultanate of Oman," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 9(1), pages 228-236.
    41. Deaton, Angus S & Muellbauer, John, 1980. "An Almost Ideal Demand System," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 70(3), pages 312-326, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mamipour, Siab & Salem, Ali Asghar & Sayadi, Mohammad & Azizkhani, Masoumeh, 2023. "Retail gasoline pricing in a subsidized energy market: An empirical analysis from AIDS model for Iran," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    2. Wang, Lijun & Zha, Donglan & O’Mahony, Tadhg & Zhou, Dequn, 2023. "Energy efficiency lags and welfare boons: Understanding the rebound and welfare effects through China's urban households," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    3. Xu, Shang & Zhang, Jun, 2023. "The welfare impacts of removing coal subsidies in rural China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).

    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. Xu, Shang & Zhang, Jun, 2023. "The welfare impacts of removing coal subsidies in rural China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    2. Aryanpur, Vahid & Fattahi, Mahshid & Mamipour, Siab & Ghahremani, Mahsa & Gallachóir, Brian Ó & Bazilian, Morgan D. & Glynn, James, 2022. "How energy subsidy reform can drive the Iranian power sector towards a low-carbon future," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    3. Boudekhdekh, Karim, 2022. "A comparative analysis of energy subsidy in the MENA region," MPRA Paper 115275, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Chen, Qiu & Huang, Jikun & Mirzabaev, Alisher, 2022. "Does fuel price subsidy work? Household energy transition under imperfect labor market in rural China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    5. Saeed Solaymani, 2021. "Energy subsidy reform evaluation research – reviews in Iran," Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 11(3), pages 520-538, June.
    6. Majidpour, Mehdi, 2022. "Policy lessons from the execution of fuel dual-pricing: Insights for fuel-subsidizing economies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 247(C).
    7. Wang, Qunwei & Zhou, Bo & Zhang, Cheng & Zhou, Dequn, 2021. "Do energy subsidies reduce fiscal and household non-energy expenditures? A regional heterogeneity assessment on coal-to-gas program in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    8. Waleed, Khalid & Mirza, Faisal Mehmood, 2020. "Examining behavioral patterns in household fuel consumption using two-stage-budgeting framework for energy and environmental policies: Evidence based on micro data from Pakistan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    9. Malla, Sunil & Timilsina, Govinda R, 2014. "Household cooking fuel choice and adoption of improved cookstoves in developing countries : a review," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6903, The World Bank.
    10. Ekholm, Tommi & Krey, Volker & Pachauri, Shonali & Riahi, Keywan, 2010. "Determinants of household energy consumption in India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(10), pages 5696-5707, October.
    11. Bah, Muhammad Maladoh & Saari, M. Yusof, 2020. "Quantifying the impacts of energy price reform on living expenses in Saudi Arabia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    12. Moz-Christofoletti, Maria Alice & Pereda, Paula Carvalho, 2021. "Distributional welfare and emission effects of energy tax policies in Brazil," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    13. Aiman Albatayneh & Adel Juaidi & Francisco Manzano-Agugliaro, 2023. "The Negative Impact of Electrical Energy Subsidies on the Energy Consumption—Case Study from Jordan," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-17, January.
    14. Mamipour, Siab & Salem, Ali Asghar & Sayadi, Mohammad & Azizkhani, Masoumeh, 2023. "Retail gasoline pricing in a subsidized energy market: An empirical analysis from AIDS model for Iran," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    15. Alireza Ghadertootoonchi & Maryam Fani & Masoume Bararzadeh, 2020. "The effect of energy subsidies on the sustainability of economy, society and environment: A case study of Iran," ECONOMICS AND POLICY OF ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2020(2), pages 93-129.
    16. José M. Labeaga & Xavier Labandeira & Xiral López-Otero, 2018. "Energy Tax Reform and Poverty Alleviation in Mexico," Working Papers 1801, Universidade de Vigo, Departamento de Economía Aplicada.
    17. Javier García-Enríquez & Cruz A. Echevarría, 2016. "Consistent Estimation of a Censored Demand System and Welfare Analysis: The 2012 VAT Reform in Spain," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 67(2), pages 324-347, June.
    18. Johne, Clara & Schröder, Enno & Ward, Hauke, 2023. "The distributional effects of a nitrogen tax: Evidence from Germany," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    19. Muhammad Irfan & Michael P. Cameron & Gazi Hassan, 2017. "Household Energy Elasticities in Pakistan: An Application of the LA-AIDS Model on Pooled Household Data," Working Papers in Economics 17/11, University of Waikato.
    20. Irfan, Muhammad & Cameron, Michael P. & Hassan, Gazi, 2018. "Household energy elasticities and policy implications for Pakistan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 633-642.

    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:enepol:v:144:y:2020:i:c:s0301421520303232. 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/enpol .

    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.