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Carbon Dioxide Emissions and aging: Disentangling behavior from energy efficiency

Author

Listed:
  • Dorothée Charlier

    (USMB IREGE)

  • Bérangère Legendre

    (USMB IREGE)

Abstract

Demographic aging affects Western societies and calls for the adaptation of a number of economic structures, such as pension systems. But this trend requires us to take into account the behavioral changes inherent in aging if we are develop sustainably, specifically concerning resource consumption and carbon dioxide emissions in the context of global warming. The aim of this research is to assess the impact of aging on emissions by disentangling the pure effect of behavioral patterns and the effect of home energy efficiency. Showing that a selection bias arises through the choice of home, we isolate the pure effect of the behavior of older people. We use a discrete-continuous model to address potential endogeneity in a residential energy consumption model due to the choice of home energy characteristics. As a key contribution, we provide evidence that age does have a significant but indirect impact on carbon dioxide emissions, through the choice of dwelling.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:fae:wpaper:2020.13
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    File URL: http://faere.fr/pub/WorkingPapers/Charlier_Legendre_FAERE_WP2020.13.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    carbon dioxide emissions; aging; empirical analysis; endogeneity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q41 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Demand and Supply; Prices
    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination

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