IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v68y2014icp465-475.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Economic populism, partial deregulation of transport fuels and electoral outcomes in India

Author

Listed:
  • Srinivasan, Sunderasan

Abstract

The Indian political class is known to employ populist, albeit economically unsustainable, measures to replace intrinsic ‘valence’, especially shortly prior to election windows. Such measures include loan-waivers, interest rate concessions, provision of free electricity for agriculturists, etc. The union government’s leverage to maneuver and to micro-manage retail fuel prices within partially deregulated environments is hypothesized to provide incumbents with an advantage over rival contestants in the electoral process. This paper analyzes the evolution in the retail prices of diesel and petrol (gasoline), and the transfer of such evolution, into the inflation index of the ‘all commodity’ basket. It is observed that when international benchmark prices are relatively low and domestic inflation is moderate, the transfer occurs within about 42 weeks. During periods of high oil prices-frequently above USD 100 a barrel-and high inflation-higher than 5.00–5.50%-prices of petroleum distillates tend to feed into overall inflation more rapidly, within about 34–40 weeks.

Suggested Citation

  • Srinivasan, Sunderasan, 2014. "Economic populism, partial deregulation of transport fuels and electoral outcomes in India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 465-475.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:68:y:2014:i:c:p:465-475
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2014.01.026
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421514000317
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2014.01.026?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. Gerald Stuber, 2001. "The Changing Effects of Energy-Price Shocks on Economic Activity and Inflation," Bank of Canada Review, Bank of Canada, vol. 2001(Summer), pages 3-14.
    2. Robert Hoffmann & Chew-Ging Lee & Bala Ramasamy & Matthew Yeung, 2005. "FDI and pollution: a granger causality test using panel data," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(3), pages 311-317.
    3. Fatih Ozatay, 2007. "Public sector price controls and electoral cycles," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(4), pages 527-539.
    4. S. Mahendra Dev, 2008. "India," Chapters, in: Anis Chowdhury & Wahiduddin Mahmud (ed.), Handbook on the South Asian Economies, chapter 1, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Yogesh Uppal, 2009. "The disadvantaged incumbents: estimating incumbency effects in Indian state legislatures," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 138(1), pages 9-27, January.
    6. Jonathan E. Hughes & Christopher R. Knittel & Daniel Sperling, 2008. "Evidence of a Shift in the Short-Run Price Elasticity of Gasoline Demand," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 29(1), pages 113-134.
    7. Jonathan E. Hughes & Christopher R. Knittel & Daniel Sperling, 2008. "Evidence of a Shift in the Short-Run Price Elasticity of Gasoline Demand," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 29(1), pages 113-134.
    8. Agenor, Pierre-Richard & Asilis, Carlos M., 1997. "Price controls and electoral cycles," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 131-142, February.
    9. Ghosh, Sajal, 2002. "Electricity consumption and economic growth in India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 125-129, January.
    10. Ramanathan, R., 1999. "Short- and long-run elasticities of gasoline demand in India: An empirical analysis using cointegration techniques," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 321-330, August.
    11. Grasso, Margherita & Manera, Matteo, 2007. "Asymmetric error correction models for the oil-gasoline price relationship," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 156-177, January.
    12. Etsuro Shioji & Taisuke Uchino, 2011. "Pass-Through of Oil Prices to Japanese Domestic Prices," NBER Chapters, in: Commodity Prices and Markets, pages 155-189, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Riccardo DiCecio, 2006. "Gas-price inflation," Monetary Trends, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, issue Jun.
    14. Chad Kendall & Tommaso Nannicini & Francesco Trebbi, 2015. "How Do Voters Respond to Information? Evidence from a Randomized Campaign," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(1), pages 322-353, January.
    15. Granger, C W J, 1969. "Investigating Causal Relations by Econometric Models and Cross-Spectral Methods," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 37(3), pages 424-438, July.
    16. Dossani, Rafiq & Ranganathan, V., 2004. "Farmers' willingness to pay for power in India: conceptual issues, survey results and implications for pricing," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 359-369, May.
    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. Benczes, István & Szabó, Krisztina, 2023. "Társadalmi törésvonalak és gazdasági (ir)racionalitások. A közgazdaságtan szerepe és helye a populizmus kutatásában [Social cleavages and economic (ir)rationalities: The role of economics in populi," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(1), pages 23-54.

    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. Jimy Ferrer Carbonell & Roberto Escalante Semerena, 2014. "Demanda de gasolina en la zona metropolitana del Valle de México: análisis empírico de la reducción del subsidio," Revista de Economía del Rosario, Universidad del Rosario, June.
    2. Fouquet, Roger, 2012. "Trends in income and price elasticities of transport demand (1850–2010)," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 62-71.
    3. Scott, K. Rebecca, 2011. "Demand and Price Volatility: Rational Habits in International Gasoline Demand," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt2q87432b, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    4. Klodian Mu o & Enzo Valentini & Stefano Lucarelli, 2021. "The Relationships between GDP growth, Energy Consumption, Renewable Energy Production and CO2 Emissions in European Transition Economies," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 11(4), pages 362-373.
    5. Beckman, Jayson & Hertel, Thomas & Tyner, Wallace, 2011. "Validating energy-oriented CGE models," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 799-806, September.
    6. Sene, Seydina Ousmane, 2012. "Estimating the demand for gasoline in developing countries: Senegal," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 189-194.
    7. 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.
    8. Bergeaud, Antonin & Raimbault, Juste, 2020. "An empirical analysis of the spatial variability of fuel prices in the United States," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 131-143.
    9. Bashiri Behmiri, Niaz & Pires Manso, José R., 2012. "Does Portuguese economy support crude oil conservation hypothesis?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 628-634.
    10. Nour Wehbe & Bassam Assaf & Salem Darwich, 2018. "Étude de causalité entre la consommation d’électricité et la croissance économique au Liban," Post-Print hal-01944291, HAL.
    11. Sentenac-Chemin, Elodie, 2012. "Is the price effect on fuel consumption symmetric? Some evidence from an empirical study," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 59-65.
    12. Cheng-Yih Hong & Yi-Chi Tsai & Tsai- Rong Lee & Hui-Wen Dang, 2018. "Tax Rate Adjustment and Its Potential Impact on Price: An Application Mathematical Input-Output Price Spillover Model," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 8(5), pages 21-25.
    13. Scheitrum, Daniel, 2017. "Renewable Natural Gas as a Solution to Climate Goals: Response to California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard," MPRA Paper 77193, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Roula Inglesi-Lotz & Luis Diez del Corral Morales, 2017. "The Effect of Education on a Country’s Energy Consumption: Evidence from Developed and Developing Countries," Working Papers 201733, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.
    15. Eric S. Lin & Hamid E. Ali, 2009. "Military Spending and Inequality: Panel Granger Causality Test," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 46(5), pages 671-685, September.
    16. Ashutosh Dash & Sangram Keshari Jena & Aviral Kumar Tiwari & Shawkat Hammoudeh, 2022. "Dynamics between Power Consumption and Economic Growth at Aggregated and Disaggregated (Sectoral) Level Using the Frequency Domain Causality," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-18, May.
    17. Scott, K. Rebecca, 2015. "Demand and price uncertainty: Rational habits in international gasoline demand," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 40-49.
    18. Edward L. Glaeser, 2014. "The Supply of Environmentalism: Psychological Interventions and Economics," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 8(2), pages 208-229.
    19. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Nasreen, Samia & Abbas, Faisal & Anis, Omri, 2015. "Does foreign direct investment impede environmental quality in high-, middle-, and low-income countries?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 275-287.
    20. Jianglong Li & Zhi Li, 2018. "Understanding the role of economic transition in enlarging energy price elasticity," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 26(2), pages 253-281, April.

    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:68:y:2014:i:c:p:465-475. 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.