Understanding the role of people's preferences and perceptions in the analysis of residential energy transition: a meta-analysis

Fuelwood consumption in the residential sector has been widely studied worldwide, being family income and other socio-demographic variables commonly identified as its major drivers. In this review, we questioned these findings by including people's preferences/perceptions and context-specific variables in the analysis, and their joint effect on households' energy choices. For this purpose, we performed a meta-analysis based on an econometrical model covering 69 studies (228 observations) on fuelwood consumption and energy transition. We conclude that people's preferences/perceptions have been undervalued in comparison to socioeconomic variables, which are more easily measured by using surveys –or they are already included in preexisting datasets-, especially when researchers are not familiar with local sociocultural and environmental contexts (traditions, status, and worldviews, among others). When people's preferences/perceptions are included in models, the commonly detected effects of gender and family income on energy transition significantly decrease, while the effect of people's schooling remains. This opens the discussion whether it is correct to tackle the dilemma about residential fuelwood consumption through policies that are based on variables like income, instead of more seriously trying to understand local contexts, and also it highlights the role that people's schooling has on energy transition beyond economic aspects. If we take into account that people's decisions about energy includes highly behavioral elements on the personal and household levels, shaped by education, we will be able to develop targeted public policies that allow for a more sustainable use of energy in the residential sector.