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The decline in average family size and its implications for the average benefits of within "household sharing"

Author

Listed:
  • Carsten Schröder
  • Katrin Rehdanz
  • Daiju Narita
  • Toshihiro Okubo

Abstract

Economic policies rely on demographic projections. Yet in making these projections, researchers often ignore the aspect of household formation—despite sustained trends in many industrialized countries towards smaller household units with fewer members. Over the long term, this trend is likely to reduce the benefits of sharing goods/services within households (household economies of scale) at the micro-level, thereby increasing household-sector demand at the macro level. We propose a framework to (a) quantify the level of household economies of scale for different household types and (b) assess how the decline in average household size impacts aggregate household-sector demand. We apply the framework to energy consumption in Japan. The application indicates that household economies of scale in energy use are substantial and that the 5% decline in average household size in Japan between 2005 and 2010 led to an economy-wide loss in household economies of scale amounting to almost 4%.

Suggested Citation

  • Carsten Schröder & Katrin Rehdanz & Daiju Narita & Toshihiro Okubo, 2015. "The decline in average family size and its implications for the average benefits of within "household sharing"," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 67(3), pages 760-780.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:oxecpp:v:67:y:2015:i:3:p:760-780.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/oep/gpv033
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    Cited by:

    1. Hoyong Jung, 2025. "Single-Person Household and Greenhouse Gas Emission: Evidence from South Korea," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 88(7), pages 1805-1830, July.
    2. Underwood, Anthony & Fremstad, Anders, 2018. "Does sharing backfire? A decomposition of household and urban economies in CO2 emissions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 404-413.
    3. Nozomu Inoue & Shigeru Matsumoto & Kozo Mayumi, 2022. "Household energy consumption pattern changes in an aging society: the case of Japan between 1989 and 2014 in retrospect," International Journal of Economic Policy Studies, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 67-83, February.
    4. Dorothée Charlier & Bérangère Legendre, 2020. "Carbon Dioxide Emissions and aging: Disentangling behavior from energy efficiency," Working Papers 2020.13, FAERE - French Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.
    5. Benjamin Volland, 2016. "Efficiency in Domestic Space Heating: An Estimation of the Direct Rebound Effect for Domestic Heating in the U.S," IRENE Working Papers 16-01, IRENE Institute of Economic Research.
    6. Misbah Aslam & Eatzaz Ahmad, 2018. "Impact of Ageing and Generational Effects on Household Energy Consumption Behavior: Evidence from Pakistan," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-20, August.
    7. Tilov, Ivan & Farsi, Mehdi & Volland, Benjamin, 2019. "Interactions in Swiss households’ energy demand: A holistic approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 136-149.
    8. Tetsuya Tsurumi & Rintaro Yamaguchi & Kazuki Kagohashi & Shunsuke Managi, 2021. "Correction to: Are Cognitive, Affective, and Eudaimonic Dimensions of Subjective Well-Being Differently Related to Consumption? Evidence from Japan," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(6), pages 2523-2523, August.
    9. Wu, Wenchao & Kanamori, Yuko & Zhang, Runsen & Zhou, Qian & Takahashi, Kiyoshi & Masui, Toshihiko, 2021. "Implications of declining household economies of scale on electricity consumption and sustainability in China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    10. Okubo, Toshihiro & Narita, Daiju & Rehdanz, Katrin & Schröder, Carsten, 2020. "Preferences for Nuclear Power in Post-Fukushima Japan: Evidence from a Large Nationwide Household Survey," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 13(11).
    11. Volland, Benjamin, 2017. "The role of risk and trust attitudes in explaining residential energy demand: Evidence from the United Kingdom," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 14-30.
    12. Fremstad, Anders & Underwood, Anthony & Zahran, Sammy, 2018. "The Environmental Impact of Sharing: Household and Urban Economies in CO2 Emissions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 137-147.
    13. Chalal, Moulay Larbi & Benachir, Medjdoub & White, Michael & Shahtahmassebi, Golnaz & Cumberbatch, Miranda & Shrahily, Raid, 2017. "The impact of the UK household life-cycle transitions on the electricity and gas usage patterns," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 505-518.
    14. Tang Yao & Yigang Wei & Jianhong Zhang & Yani Wang & Yunjiang Yu & Wenyang Huang, 2022. "What influences the urban sewage discharge in China? The effect of diversified factors on the urban sewage discharge in different regions of China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(5), pages 6099-6135, May.
    15. Zhang, Yimeng & Wang, Feng & Zhang, Bing, 2023. "The impacts of household structure transitions on household carbon emissions in China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    16. Andreas Chai, 2018. "Household consumption patterns and the sectoral composition of growing economies: A review of the interlinkages," Discussion Papers in Economics economics:201802, Griffith University, Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics.
    17. Shigeru Matsumoto & Kenichi Mizobuchi & Shunsuke Managi, 2022. "Household energy consumption," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 24(1), pages 1-5, January.
    18. Yang, Xinyue & Matsumoto, Shigeru, 2023. "To use or not to use, that is the question: Income and substitution effects in the feed-in tariff system for solar-generated electricity," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    19. Bardazzi, Rossella & Pazienza, Maria Grazia, 2017. "Switch off the light, please! Energy use, aging population and consumption habits," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 161-171.
    20. repec:aub:uhewps:2025_02 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Dorothée Charlier & Bérangère Legendre, 2021. "Carbon Dioxide Emissions and Aging: Disentangling Behavior from Energy Efficiency," Post-Print hal-03877220, HAL.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D11 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Theory
    • J10 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - General
    • Q42 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Alternative Energy Sources
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis

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