IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/enejou/v38y2017i3p159-176.html

Energy Affordability and Subjective Well-Being: Evidence for European Countries

Author

Listed:
  • Heinz Welsch
  • Philipp Biermann

Abstract

This paper uses data on the life satisfaction of more than 100,000 individuals in 21 European countries from 2002 to 2011, to study the relationship between subjective well-being and the affordability for households of electricity, heating oil and natural gas. We find that energy prices have statistically and economically significant effects on subjective well-being. The effect sizes are smaller than but comparable to the effects of important personal factors of well-being. Effects above average are found in individuals from the lowest income quartile. In addition, effects are strongest at times when required energy expenditures can be expected to be high. The empirical results are consistent with the prediction that greater fuel poverty implies a greater effect of energy prices on well-being.

Suggested Citation

  • Heinz Welsch & Philipp Biermann, 2017. "Energy Affordability and Subjective Well-Being: Evidence for European Countries," The Energy Journal, , vol. 38(3), pages 159-176, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:enejou:v:38:y:2017:i:3:p:159-176
    DOI: 10.5547/01956574.38.3.hwel
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.5547/01956574.38.3.hwel
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.5547/01956574.38.3.hwel?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Thomson, Harriet & Snell, Carolyn, 2013. "Quantifying the prevalence of fuel poverty across the European Union," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 563-572.
    2. Welsch, Heinz & Biermann, Philipp, 2016. "Measuring nuclear power plant externalities using life satisfaction data: A spatial analysis for Switzerland," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 98-111.
    3. Peter Heindl, 2015. "Measuring Fuel Poverty: General Considerations and Application to German Household Data," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 71(2), pages 178-215, 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. Heinz Welsch, 2024. "Household Sector Carbon Pricing, Revenue Rebating, and Subjective Well-Being: A Dollar is not a Dollar," Working Papers V-444-24, University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics, revised Apr 2024.
    2. Li Liu & Jichuan Sheng, 2025. "Green Growth’s Unintended Burden: The Distributional and Well-Being Impacts of China’s Energy Transition," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-18, October.
    3. Paul Simshauser, 2022. "The 2022 energy crisis: horizontal and vertical impacts of policy interventions in Australia's national electricity market," Working Papers EPRG2216, Energy Policy Research Group, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
    4. Huang, Qiu & Lin, Silu & Guo, Yizhuo, 2024. "Can energy transition improve the quality of life for the population?–Empirical analysis of 30 provinces in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 313(C).
    5. Yuxiang Ye & Steven F Koch & Jiangfeng Zhang, 2020. "Modelling required energy consumption with equivalence scales," ERSA Working Paper Series, Economic Research Southern Africa, vol. 0.
    6. Bettarelli, Luca & Furceri, Davide & Pizzuto, Pietro & Shakoor, Nadia, 2024. "Climate change policies and income inequality," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    7. Bright Akwasi Gyamfi & Tomiwa Sunday Adebayo & Divine Q. Agozie & Festus Victor Bekun & Ayben Koy, 2025. "Is sustainable energy consumption, technological advancement and urbanization fast addressing south Asia’s green energy expansion deficits?," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 27(8), pages 19969-19998, August.
    8. Davillas, Apostolos & Burlinson, Andrew & Liu, Hui-Hsuan, 2022. "Getting warmer: Fuel poverty, objective and subjective health and well-being," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    9. Llorca, Manuel & Rodriguez-Alvarez, Ana, 2025. "Is Spain’s Energy Voucher Lighting the Way for the Poor? A Microeconomic Evaluation of the Bono Social Eléctrico," Working Papers 4-2025, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Economics.
    10. Wang, Yao & Du, Zhili, 2024. "Has energy poverty entangled the households by hindering the filial generation?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 186(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. repec:aen:journl:ej38-3-welsch is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Igawa, Moegi & Managi, Shunsuke, 2022. "Energy poverty and income inequality: An economic analysis of 37 countries," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 306(PB).
    3. Kahouli, Sondès & Okushima, Shinichiro, 2021. "Regional energy poverty reevaluated: A direct measurement approach applied to France and Japan," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    4. George E. Halkos & Panagiotis-Stavros C. Aslanidis, 2023. "Addressing Multidimensional Energy Poverty Implications on Achieving Sustainable Development," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-30, April.
    5. Buchner, Martin & Rehm, Miriam, 2025. "Energy poverty and health: Micro-level evidence from Germany," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    6. Schuessler, Rudolf, 2014. "Energy poverty indicators: Conceptual issues. Part I: The ten-percent-rule and double median/mean indicators," ZEW Discussion Papers 14-037, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    7. Heindl, Peter & Löschel, Andreas, 2015. "Social implications of green growth policies from the perspective of energy sector reform and its impact on households," ZEW Discussion Papers 15-012, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    8. Drescher, Katharina & Janzen, Benedikt, 2021. "Determinants, persistence, and dynamics of energy poverty: An empirical assessment using German household survey data," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    9. Deller, David & Turner, Glen & Waddams Price, Catherine, 2021. "Energy poverty indicators: Inconsistencies, implications and where next?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    10. Roberts, Deborah & Vera-Toscano, Esperanza & Phimister, Euan, 2015. "Fuel poverty in the UK: Is there a difference between rural and urban areas?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 216-223.
    11. Domínguez Olabide, Peru, 2018. "Pobrezia energetikoa neurtzeko adierazleen errebisio kritiko bat," Revista de Dirección y Administración de Empresas, Universidad del País Vasco - Escuela Universitaria de Estudios Empresariales de San Sebastián.
    12. Magdalena Cyrek & Piotr Cyrek, 2022. "Rural Specificity as a Factor Influencing Energy Poverty in European Union Countries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-24, July.
    13. Llorca, Manuel & Rodriguez-Alvarez, Ana & Jamasb, Tooraj, 2020. "Objective vs. subjective fuel poverty and self-assessed health," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    14. Heinz Welsch & Philipp Biermann, 2014. "Energy Prices, Energy Poverty, and Well-Being: Evidence for European Countries," Working Papers V-369-14, University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics, revised Sep 2014.
    15. Chiara Grazini, 2023. "La poverta' energetica come privazione delle capacita' (Energy poverty as capabilities deprivation)," Moneta e Credito, Economia civile, vol. 76(301), pages 3-25.
    16. Romero, José Carlos & Linares, Pedro & López, Xiral, 2018. "The policy implications of energy poverty indicators," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 98-108.
    17. Johannes Thema & Florin Vondung, 2020. "Expenditure-Based Indicators of Energy Poverty—An Analysis of Income and Expenditure Elasticities," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-18, December.
    18. Struga, Meivis & Polinesi, Gloria & Rossi, Mosè & Carfora, Alfonso & Comodi, Gabriele & Marko, Oltion, 2025. "Measuring energy poverty in rural Albania: A multidimensional and context-sensitive approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    19. Heindl, Peter, 2014. "Ökonomische Aspekte der Lastenverteilung in der Umweltpolitik am Beispiel der Energiewende: Ein Beitrag zum interdisziplinären Dialog," ZEW Discussion Papers 14-061, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    20. Burguillo, Mercedes & del Río, Pablo & Juez-Martel, Pedro, 2025. "How have the COVID pandemic and the war in Ukraine affected energy poverty?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 377(PD).
    21. Erica Delugas & Rinaldo Brau, 2021. "Evaluating the Impact of Energy Poverty in a Multidimensional Setting," The Energy Journal, , vol. 42(1), pages 39-66, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:sae:enejou:v:38:y:2017:i:3:p:159-176. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.