IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/wpaper/hal-01081953.html

What matters in Residential Energy Consumption? Evidence from France

Author

Listed:
  • Anna Risch

    (IREGE - Institut de Recherche en Gestion et en Economie - USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry] - Université Savoie Mont Blanc)

  • Claire Salmon

    (IREGE - Institut de Recherche en Gestion et en Economie - USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry] - Université Savoie Mont Blanc)

Abstract

Given objectives set by countries to realize energy-savings and decrease greenhouse gas emissions, an understanding of the main factors driving household energy consumption is crucial for the formulation of efficient policy measures. Our objective is to identify the main determinants of households energy consumption. The model incorporates a discrete/continuous decision framework, which allows for interactions between decisions on the heating system (the discrete choice) and decisions on the consumption of energy (the continuous choice). We have three main contributions. First, we explore the role of households' socio-economic characteristics vs. technical properties of dwelling in explaining energy consumption. Second, we identify some of the main sources of energy conservation in the housing sector. Third, we estimate price-elasticity and income-elasticity in the French housing sector at a micro-level. Results show that the intensity of energy used per m² is almost completely determined by the technical properties of the dwelling and by the climate. The role of socio-demographic variables is particularly weak. This means that the challenge to environmental policies is to encourage households to undertake renovations.

Suggested Citation

  • Anna Risch & Claire Salmon, 2013. "What matters in Residential Energy Consumption? Evidence from France," Working Papers hal-01081953, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-01081953
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://univ-smb.hal.science/hal-01081953v1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://univ-smb.hal.science/hal-01081953v1/document
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Meier, Helena & Rehdanz, Katrin, 2010. "Determinants of residential space heating expenditures in Great Britain," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 949-959, September.
    2. Leth-Petersen, Soren & Togeby, Mikael, 2001. "Demand for space heating in apartment blocks: measuring effects of policy measures aiming at reducing energy consumption," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 387-403, July.
    3. Dubin, Jeffrey A & McFadden, Daniel L, 1984. "An Econometric Analysis of Residential Electric Appliance Holdings and Consumption," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(2), pages 345-362, March.
    4. Charlier, Dorothée & Risch, Anna, 2012. "Evaluation of the impact of environmental public policy measures on energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in the French residential sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 170-184.
    5. Jean-Thomas Bernard & Denis Bolduc & Donald Belanger, 1996. "Quebec Residential Electricity Demand: A Microeconometric Approach," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 29(1), pages 92-113, February.
    6. repec:bla:scandj:v:103:y:2001:i:1:p:165-84 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Rehdanz, Katrin, 2007. "Determinants of residential space heating expenditures in Germany," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 167-182, March.
    8. Alberini, Anna & Gans, Will & Velez-Lopez, Daniel, 2011. "Residential consumption of gas and electricity in the U.S.: The role of prices and income," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 870-881, September.
    9. Baker, Paul & Blundell, Richard, 1991. "The Microeconometric Approach to Modelling Energy Demand: Some Results for UK Households," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 7(2), pages 54-76, Summer.
    10. repec:aen:journl:2006v27-02-a06 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Baker, Paul & Blundell, Richard & Micklewright, John, 1989. "Modelling Household Energy Expenditures Using Micro-data," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 99(397), pages 720-738, September.
    12. Maruejols, Lucie & Young, Denise, 2011. "Split incentives and energy efficiency in Canadian multi-family dwellings," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 3655-3668, June.
    13. A. Greening, Lorna & Greene, David L. & Difiglio, Carmen, 2000. "Energy efficiency and consumption -- the rebound effect -- a survey," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(6-7), pages 389-401, June.
    14. Bernard, Jean-Thomas & Bolduc, Denis & Yameogo, Nadège-Désirée, 2011. "A pseudo-panel data model of household electricity demand," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 315-325, January.
    15. Newell, Richard G. & Pizer, William A., 2008. "Carbon mitigation costs for the commercial building sector: Discrete-continuous choice analysis of multifuel energy demand," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 527-539, December.
    16. Braun, Frauke G., 2010. "Determinants of households' space heating type: A discrete choice analysis for German households," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(10), pages 5493-5503, October.
    17. Vringer, Kees & Aalbers, Theo & Blok, Kornelis, 2007. "Household energy requirement and value patterns," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 553-566, January.
    18. Alberini, Anna & Gans, Will & Velez-Lopez, Daniel, 2011. "Residential Consumption of Gas and Electricity in the U.S.: The Role of Prices and Income," Sustainable Development Papers 99637, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    19. Michael Parti & Cynthia Parti, 1980. "The Total and Appliance-Specific Conditional Demand for Electricity in the Household Sector," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 11(1), pages 309-321, Spring.
    20. Levinson, Arik & Niemann, Scott, 2004. "Energy use by apartment tenants when landlords pay for utilities," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 51-75, March.
    21. Swan, Lukas G. & Ugursal, V. Ismet, 2009. "Modeling of end-use energy consumption in the residential sector: A review of modeling techniques," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(8), pages 1819-1835, October.
    22. Nesbakken, Runa, 1999. "Price sensitivity of residential energy consumption in Norway," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(6), pages 493-515, December.
    23. Larsen, Bodil Merethe & Nesbakken, Runa, 2004. "Household electricity end-use consumption: results from econometric and engineering models," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 179-200, March.
    24. Heckman, James J. & Robb, Richard Jr., 1985. "Alternative methods for evaluating the impact of interventions : An overview," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 30(1-2), pages 239-267.
    25. Cayla, Jean-Michel & Maizi, Nadia & Marchand, Christophe, 2011. "The role of income in energy consumption behaviour: Evidence from French households data," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 7874-7883.
    26. repec:aen:journl:1984v05-02-a11 is not listed on IDEAS
    27. repec:aen:journl:1993v14-04-a07 is not listed on IDEAS
    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. Belaïd, Fateh & Garcia, Thomas, 2016. "Understanding the spectrum of residential energy-saving behaviours: French evidence using disaggregated data," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 204-214.
    2. Jakučionytė-Skodienė, Miglė & Liobikienė, Genovaitė, 2023. "Changes in energy consumption and CO2 emissions in the Lithuanian household sector caused by environmental awareness and climate change policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    3. Dorothée Charlier & Sondès Kahouli, 2018. "Fuel poverty and residential energy demand: how fuel-poor households react to energy price fluctuations," Post-Print halshs-01957771, HAL.
    4. Salomé Bakaloglou & Dorothée Charlier, 2018. "Energy Consumption in the French Residential Sector: How Much do Individual Preferences Matter?," Working Papers 2018.05, FAERE - French Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.
    5. Gupta, Eshita & Thakur, Damini & Mukherjee, Gaurav, 2025. "Latent electricity demand for households: Unveiling the impact of power supply on appliance acquisition and usage in Bihar, Eastern India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 204(C).
    6. Iñigo Antepara & Lefkothea Papada & João Pedro Gouveia & Nikolas Katsoulakos & Dimitris Kaliampakos, 2020. "Improving Energy Poverty Measurement in Southern European Regions through Equivalization of Modeled Energy Costs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-21, July.
    7. Risch, Anna, 2020. "Are environmental fiscal incentives effective in inducing energy-saving renovations? An econometric evaluation of the French energy tax credit," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    8. Salomé Bakaloglou & Dorothée Charlier, 2018. "The role of individual preferences to explain the energy performance gap," Working Papers 2018.15, FAERE - French Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.
    9. Dorothée Charlier & Sondès Kahouli, 2019. "From Residential Energy Demand to Fuel Poverty: Income-induced Non-linearities in the Reactions of Households to Energy Price Fluctuations," The Energy Journal, , vol. 40(2), pages 101-138, March.
    10. Gechert, Sebastian & Mey, Bianka & Prante, Franz & Schäfer, Teresa, 2025. "The Price Elasticity of Heating and Cooling Energy Demand," OSF Preprints 4sjy5_v2, Center for Open Science.
    11. Jan POLCYN & Sebastian STĘPIEŃ & Bazyli CZYŹEWSKI, 2019. "The Measurement Of The Quality Of The Environment And Its Determinants In Poland In The Regional Perspective," Annales Universitatis Apulensis Series Oeconomica, Faculty of Sciences, "1 Decembrie 1918" University, Alba Iulia, vol. 2(21), pages 1-1.
    12. repec:aen:journl:ej40-2-kahouli is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Bakaloglou, Salomé & Charlier, Dorothée, 2021. "The role of individual preferences in explaining the energy performance gap," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    14. Wang, Yuanping & Hou, Lingchun & Cai, Weiguang & Zhou, Zhaoyin & Bian, Jing, 2023. "Exploring the drivers and influencing mechanisms of urban household electricity consumption in China - Based on longitudinal data at the provincial level," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 273(C).
    15. Charlier, Dorothée, 2021. "Explaining the energy performance gap in buildings with a latent profile analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    16. Mathilde Fajardy & David Reiner, 2020. "An overview of the electrification of residential and commercial heating and cooling and prospects for decarbonisation," Working Papers EPGR2037, Energy Policy Research Group, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
    17. Asmaa Tellache & Youcef Lazri & Abdelkader Laafer & Shady Attia, 2025. "Development of a Benchmark Model for Residential Buildings with a Mediterranean Climate: The Aero-Habitat in Algiers City," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-25, January.
    18. Salomé Bakaloglou & Dorothée Charlier, 2019. "Energy Consumption in the French Residential Sector: How Much do Individual Preferences Matter?," The Energy Journal, , vol. 40(3), pages 77-100, May.
    19. Dorothée Charlier & Bérangère Legendre, 2021. "Carbon Dioxide Emissions and Aging: Disentangling Behavior from Energy Efficiency," Post-Print hal-03877220, HAL.
    20. 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.
    21. Hanemann, Michael & Labandeira, Xavier & Labeaga, José M. & Vásquez-Lavín, Felipe, 2024. "Discrete-continuous models of residential energy demand: A comprehensive review," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    22. Dorothée Charlier, 2021. "Explaining the energy performance gap in buildings with a latent profile analysis," Post-Print hal-03894155, HAL.

    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. Dorothée Charlier & Sondès Kahouli, 2019. "From Residential Energy Demand to Fuel Poverty: Income-induced Non-linearities in the Reactions of Households to Energy Price Fluctuations," The Energy Journal, , vol. 40(2), pages 101-138, March.
    2. Dorothée Charlier & Sondès Kahouli, 2018. "Fuel poverty and residential energy demand: how fuel-poor households react to energy price fluctuations," Post-Print halshs-01957771, HAL.
    3. repec:aen:journl:ej40-2-kahouli is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Salomé Bakaloglou & Dorothée Charlier, 2018. "Energy Consumption in the French Residential Sector: How Much do Individual Preferences Matter?," Post-Print halshs-01961638, HAL.
    5. Hache, Emmanuel & Leboullenger, Déborah & Mignon, Valérie, 2017. "Beyond average energy consumption in the French residential housing market: A household classification approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 82-95.
    6. repec:aen:journl:ej34-4-06 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Hendrik Schmitz & Reinhard Madlener, 2020. "Heterogeneity in price responsiveness for residential space heating in Germany," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 59(5), pages 2255-2281, November.
    8. Belaïd, Fateh & Garcia, Thomas, 2016. "Understanding the spectrum of residential energy-saving behaviours: French evidence using disaggregated data," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 204-214.
    9. Dorothée CHARLIER & Mouez FODHA & Djamel KIRAT, 2021. "CO2 Emissions from the Residential Sector in Europe: Some Insights form a Country-Level Assessment," LEO Working Papers / DR LEO 2849, Orleans Economics Laboratory / Laboratoire d'Economie d'Orleans (LEO), University of Orleans.
    10. Kostakis, Ioannis & Lolos, Sarantis & Sardianou, Eleni, 2021. "Residential natural gas demand: Assessing the evidence from Greece using pseudo-panels, 2012–2019," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    11. Cao, Jing & Ho, Mun Sing & Li, Yating & Newell, Richard G. & Pizer, William A., 2019. "Chinese residential electricity consumption: Estimation and forecast using micro-data," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 6-27.
    12. Rehdanz, Katrin, 2007. "Determinants of residential space heating expenditures in Germany," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 167-182, March.
    13. Franz Fuerst & Dimitra Kavarnou & Ramandeep Singh & Hassan Adan, 2020. "Determinants of energy consumption and exposure to energy price risk: a UK study [Determinanten des Energieverbrauchs und Energiepreisrisiko: Eine Studie aus Großbritannien]," Zeitschrift für Immobilienökonomie (German Journal of Real Estate Research), Springer;Gesellschaft für Immobilienwirtschaftliche Forschung e. V., vol. 6(1), pages 65-80, April.
    14. Matsumoto, Shigeru, 2023. "The effects of carbon taxes on the welfare of households using multiple energy sources," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    15. Salari, Mahmoud & Javid, Roxana J., 2017. "Modeling household energy expenditure in the United States," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 822-832.
    16. Gechert, Sebastian & Mey, Bianka & Prante, Franz & Schäfer, Teresa, 2025. "The Price Elasticity of Heating and Cooling Energy Demand," OSF Preprints 4sjy5_v2, Center for Open Science.
    17. Çetinkaya, Murat & Başaran, Alparslan A. & Bağdadioğlu, Necmiddin, 2015. "Electricity reform, tariff and household elasticity in Turkey," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 79-85.
    18. Meier, Helena & Rehdanz, Katrin, 2010. "Determinants of residential space heating expenditures in Great Britain," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 949-959, September.
    19. Hanemann, Michael & Labandeira, Xavier & Labeaga, José M. & Vásquez-Lavín, Felipe, 2024. "Discrete-continuous models of residential energy demand: A comprehensive review," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    20. Silva, Susana & Soares, Isabel & Pinho, Carlos, 2017. "Electricity demand response to price changes: The Portuguese case taking into account income differences," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 335-342.
    21. Frontuto, Vito, 2019. "Forecasting household consumption of fuels: A multiple discrete-continuous approach," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 240(C), pages 205-214.
    22. Braun, Frauke G., 2010. "Determinants of households' space heating type: A discrete choice analysis for German households," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(10), pages 5493-5503, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • Q41 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Demand and Supply; Prices

    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:hal:wpaper:hal-01081953. 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: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    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.